LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

G?;;- Gqt^rinW Brr 



'11 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




John Wesley, the Founder of Methodism. 

Frontispiece. 



HISTORY OF METHODISM, 



For Our Young People. 



BY 



WILLIAM W. BENNETT, D. D. 




CINCINNATI: 

HITCHCOCK AND WALDEN. 

1878. 



r 




3^ 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by 

HITCHCOCK & WALDEN, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, 



PREFACE. 



The writer of this little volume has but a few words to say in 
presenting it to the public. It has been prepared under the 
conviction that such a book is needed for use in our Sunday- 
Schools, and for general circulation among our people. 

Most of the histories of Methodism are elaborate works of 
several volumes, which a great many Methodists have neither 
the money to buy nor the time to read. And yet no person 
who honors the memory of John Wesley, and blesses God for 
raising him up to do a great work, should consent to live with- 
out some knowledge of bis wonderful life and labors, and of the 
results which have followed in every part of the world. 



COJ^TENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

Bivth find Training of John Wesley— The Wesley Family— Su- 
sannah Wesley — IsTarrow Escape of John Wesley — Ills Studious 
Habits— Education — Charter House School — Oxford — Religious Im- 
])ressions — Ordained Deacon — First Sermon — Becomes a Fellow of 
Lincoln College — Charles Wesley— Becomes Greek Jjeeturer — Tiikes 
his Degree of M. A.— Flan of Study— Works, Page 1 

CHAPTER II. 

Methodists— The "Holy Club "—Self-denials— Doctrinal Views- 
State of Society — Death of his Father — Missionary to Georgia — New 
Views— Return to England- The Moravian Brethren— Conversion 
of the two Wesleys, , Page 15 

CHAPTER III. 

First University Sermon — Begins the Printing and Circulation 
of Tracts — Visits the Moravians in Germany — Opposed b}^ Church- 
men — Outdoor Preaching — Howell Harris begins the Itinerant 
Work — Revivals — Whitefield — Wesley Preaches in the Fields, and 
Hinerates— At Bath, Page 27 

CHAPTER IV. 

The Methodist Societies — Kingswood Collieries— School — Pur- 
chases the "Fouudery" — His First House of "Worship — Lay Preach- 
ers — John Cennick — Growth of Methodism — ]\Iore 0]iposition — Tract 
on Cliaracter of a Methodist — Hymns — Bristol — Charity to the 
Poor, Page 38 

CHAPTER V. 

Doctrinal Differences — Moravian Views — Opposed to Calvinism — 
Mobs and Assaults — Watch-night Meetings — Wesley's Calmness 
among Mobs — Wesley and Whitefield — Visitation of the Poor. 

Page 49 



VI CONTENTS. 

CHAPTEE VI. 

The Sacraments vVdininistered — Sacrameatal Tickets — "Our Peo- 
ple Die WeH"— Ceiinick Mobbed— John Nelson — Thomas Maxfield — 
Lady Huntingdon — Lay Preaching — "Whitefield — Organization of 
Classes and Class-meetings— Bristol, Page 61 

CHAPTEE VII. 

Wesley at Epworth — Preaches on his Father's Tombstone — Ilis 
Mother's Death — At Newcastle — Mob Violence — Wesley on Singing — 
Tyerman Quoted — "Wesley's Care of the Societies— Persecutions — 
Charles Wesley's Preaching — In Cornwall, Page 74 

CHAPTEE VIII. 

The Wesleys as Pastors — Visiting the Poor and Sick— Appoint- 
ment of Stewards — Attacks of Mobs — "General Ptules " — Tracts — 
First Conference — Eules for Preachers and Lay Assistants, Page 87 

CHAPTEE IX. 

Wesley's Last University Sermon — Press-gangs — Charges against 
the Methodists— How Wesley met his Adversaries — Preaches in a 
Romish Chapel — Methodist Soldiers — Second Conference — Cheaji 
Books — Dispenses Medicines — Third Conference, at Bristol — John 
Nelson — Incidents, Page 97 

CHAPTEE X. 

Whitefield and his Associates — WHIiam Grimshaw — Preaching 
Places — Stewards — Education — Conference of 1747 — Wesley Visits 
Ireland — Irish Mobs — Methodist Singing — Murder of John McBur- 
liey — Thomas Walsh — Lady Huntingdon — Her School at Treveeca — 
I^^ingswood School — Conference of 1749, Page 122 

CHAPTEE XI. 

Earthquake — Incidents of Itinerant Life — Storm at Sea — Wes- 
ley's Marriage — Marital Troubles — His Wife Leaves Him — Visits 
Scotland — Cornwall — At Hull— Conference of 1752 — The Palatinates 
in Ireland — Philip Guier — Wesley Inspects the Prison, . Page 139 

CHAPTEE XII. 

Conference at Leeds — Wesley Prostrated with Sevei-e Illness — 
Writes his Epitaph — Letter from Whitefield — Writes his Notes on 
the New Testament— Preaching Tours — Liverpool, . . . Page 151 



CONTENTS. VI I 

CHAPTEE, XIII. 

Question of Separation — Joliu Fletcher— Eaitliqualce at Lisbon, 
1755 — Popish Ceremonies — "Wesley's Tract on the Earihquajce — First 
Engraved Likeness of "Wesley — His Letter to Dr. Dodd — Patriotic 
Spirit— Bristol Conference — Criticisms on Books, .... Page 158 

CHAPTER XIV. 

"Whitefield Mobbed — Wild Society' — Conference at London, 1757 — 
The Trinitarian Creed — Peply to Dr. John Taylor — Methodism in 
the "West Indies — Xathaniel Gilbert — Incidents, .... Page 168 

CHAPTER XV. 

Wesley in Ireland — Conference at Bristol — Discipline— John Ber- 
ridge — Revivals — Pichard Conyers — French Prisoners —Christian 
Perfection — "Wesley's Philanthropy — The Temperance Question — 
Dress — Progress of the "Work, > • • Page 175 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Observance of the Sabbath — Picture of English Society — "Women 
Preachers— Evil Reports — Incidents— Conference of 17G1 — "Wesley's 
Sermon on ''"Wandering Thoughts" — Soup-house — Reform Society — ■ 
Ilowell Harris, , Page 186 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Methodism in America — Philip Embury — Captain "Webb — Robert 
Strawbridge — First Meeting-house — Missionaries from England — 
Robert "Williams and "William "Watters — Francis Asbury — Itinerant 
"Work — First American Conference — Second Conference, . Page 195 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Third Conference — Devereux Jarratt — Progress of Methodism — 
Revolutionary Troubles — Freeborn Garrettson — J. Hartley — Inde- 
pendency — Christmas Conference of 1784 — M. E. Church Organized — 
Discipline adopted — College Founded, Page 204 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Extension of the "Work— The West— The South— ITorth- east- 
Northward — Asbury in the "Wilderness— Jesse Lee in New Eng- 
land—Indian Hostilities, Page 214 



VIU CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XX. 

Wesley's Collections for America — His Fearlessness — Methodist 
Ilymnology — Singing — Wesley in Cornwall — Whitefield's Last Visit 
to America — His Death — Funeral Sermon by Wesley — The ''Chris- 
tian Community" — Benson's Picture of Wesley, . . . Page 223 

CHAPTEE XXI. 

Wesley's Faith — Methodism in Newfoundland — Wesley's Illness — 
Fletcher in Conference — Secret of Wesley's Success — Prison Visita- 
,tion — Letter Concerning Voltaire's Works, Page 235 

CHAPTER XXH. 

Wesley's Bible Society — His Travels — A Serene find Active Old 
Age — His Eules for a Preacher — Views on Singing — His Tract Soci- 
ety — Peflections on his Life — Sunday-schools — Wesley's "Deed of 
Declaration" — Advice about Pulpit Manners, .... Page 244 

CHAPTER XXIH. 

Growth of Methodism — Wesley Visits Holland — Death of his 
Brother Charles — His Extempore Preaching — Last Year of his Life — 
Last Illness — Death and Bui-ial— Character of Wesley, . Page 254 

C HAPTER XXIV. 

Summary of IMethodist Progress — Present Condition of IMethod- 
isni, , Page 266 



ILLUSTKATIONS. 



John Wesley, the Founder of Methodism, , . Frontispiece. 

Mrs. Susannah Wesley, Page 13 

Tomb of Mrs. Wesley, *' 76 

Charles Wesley, the Swket Singer of Methodism, . " 129 

Old Pigging Loft, Wif.liam Street, New York, . . " 196 
John Street Church, New York, " 268 



A 

HISTORY OF METHODISM. 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 



CHAPTER I. 

John Wesley, from whose labors as a preacher of 
the Gospel sprung that large body of Christian people 
called Methodists, was born June 17, 1703. The town 
of Epworth, in Lincoln county, England, about one 
hundred and ten miles northwest from the great city of 
London, was his birthplace. It was not much more than 
a large village — about two thousand people lived there, 
and most of them made their living by raising flax and 
hemp and weaving them into cloth. 

Samuel Wesley, the father of John, came to Epworth 
about the year 1695, and was the preacher of the Church 
of England among the poor people there for nearly forty 
years. The mother of John Wesley, whose n?ome was 
Susannah, was the daughter of Dr. Samuel Annesley, a 
very learned man and a pious minister of the gospel. 
He was remarkable for his love of the Bible when very 
young, and it is said that when he was only six years 
old he read twenty chapters a day. 

John Wesley's father, grandfather, great-grandfather, 



2 A HISTORY OF METHODISM 

and his grandfather on his mother's side, were all 
preachers. Susannah Annesley was married to Samuel 
Wesley when she was twenty years old. She was very 
beautiful, and had a fine mind well-stored with learning. 
She read Latin and Greek with ease, and was well versed 
in the branches of a liberal education. In theolosjical 
studies she took much delight, and even read with inter- 
est the knotty questions 'of religious controversy. She 
was a woman of great firmness of character, pious, 
patient, methodical, and energetic. She taught her chil- 
dren herself until they were old enough to be put out to 
school. 

The family at Epworth parsonage was large. There 
were nineteen children, but nine of them died in infancy. 
Those that lived were Samuel, John, Charles, Emilia, 
Susannah, Mary, .Mehetabel, Anne, Martha, and Keziah. 
This large family had to struggle with poverty, but they 
managed to live with tolerable comfort, and the children 
were well trained by their godly parents. Samuel, the 
oldest son, was a very backward child in learning to 
talk. It is said that he was not able to speak until he 
was five years old, and his parents feared that he would 
always be dumb. But one da}^ his mother had not 
seen him for some time, and called out very earnesth^ 
"Where is Samuel?" Sammy, who had hid himself 
away with a favorite kitten he was playing with, came 
out of his hiding-place with the kitten in his arms, and 
said, " Here am I, mother." After this he spoke plainly. 
His mother at once began to teach him, and in six hours 
he learned the entire alphabet. She then set him to 
read the first chapter of Genesis. He had a wonderful 
memory, and his mother said she never had to tell him 
the same thing twice. 

Mrs. Wesley was peculiar in the management of her 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 6 

children. When the}' were one year old, they^ were 
taught to fear the rod ; and if they cried at all, it must 
be in soft and subdued tones. One of her rules, and a 
good one too, we think, was, never to give a child any- 
thing it cried for ; she said, if it is paid for crying, it 
will cry again. The children were limited to three meals 
a day, and were not allowed to eat between meals. 
They were put to bed at 8 o'clock, and a servant was 
never permitted to sit by a child till it fell asleep. As 
soon as the children could speak, they were taught the 
Lord's Prayer, and they were required to repeat it every 
night and morning. They were never allowed to be 
rude to each other or to other persons, and on no ac- 
count were they to fail to call each other brother or 
sister, as the case might be. 

Mrs. Wesley kept her children in school six hours — 
which, if we may presume to say so, we think much too 
long for young children — nor without permission, were 
they to talk loud, play, or run in the yard, garden, or 
street. At five years old they were taught to read ; and 
they were allov»^ed only one day in which to learn their 
letters ; and all of them did learn them in one day 
except Mary and Anne, who were a da}'- and a half at 
the task. They sung Psalms every morning when school 
was opened, and every evening when the day's work was 
done. Of course they had a happj^- family at Epworth, 
and they all loved one another a great deal. 

A terrible accident happened when John Wesley was 
six j^ears old. The parsonage house, which was a very 
poor one at best, built of timber and mud and the root 
covered, or thatched, as they call it in England, with 
straw, took fire one night and the family came near 
being burned up in it. When the fire broke out John, 
Charles, (who was an infant,) and three of their sisters 



4 A inSTORY OF METHODISM 

with the nurse, were all sleeping in the same room. 
The nurse woke up, and taking the baby Charles in her 
arms, rushed out and told the children to follow ; the 
three sisters did so and got out, but John did not wake 
up. When they all got out into the yard Mr. Wesley 
counted his children and found that John was not with 
them. At that moment they heard a cry, and the father 
tried to rush into the burning house, but the flames drove 
him back. Looking up, the people saw little John at 
the window. He had been waked up by the fire burning 
above him in the room, and had run to the window and 
climbed up on a chest. One man said, " Run for a 
ladder !" Another, more thoughtful, said, " No, we have 
no time to get a ladder, let me stand under the window, 
and let a tall man stand on my shoulders, and he can 
reach the child." It was done in a moment, and tlie boy 
was taken out just as the roof fell in. 

When he found all his children safe, Mr. Wesley said, 
" Come, neighbors, let us kneel down and give thanks to 
God. I have all my children, and I am rich enough." 

His mother thought deeply about the narrow escape 
of her son from such an awful death, and seemed to feel 
that God had saved him to do a special work. In one 
of her evening meditations upon the goodness of God, 
she said : " I do intend to be more particularly careful 
of the soul of this child, that Thou hast so mercifully 
provided for, than ever I have been, that I may do my 
endeavor to instill into his mind the principles of true 
religion and virtue. Lord, give me grace to do ft sin- 
cerely and prudently, and bless my attempts with good 
success." John in after life gratefully remembered his 
escape, and on one of his portraits had a burning house 
engraved with the motto, " Is not this a brand plucked 
from the burnins:?" 



FOR OUn YOUNG TEOPLE. 5 

John Wesley, from his early childhood, showed a 
sober and studious disposition. He thought he ought to 
answer to his reason and his conscience for everything 
he did. When asked if he would have a piece of bread 
or some fruit, he would answer, " I thank you, I will 
think about it." It seemed to be natural to him to 
reason about everj^thing. He c?.rried this so far that 
his father one day gave him a mild rebuke, saying, 
'' Child, you think to carry everything by dint of argu- 
ment ; but you will find how little is ever done in the 
world by close reasoning." The good old rector said to 
his wife one day in a pet about this disposition of 
" Jack," as he was called in the family : " I profess, 
sweetheart, I think our Jack would not attend to the 
most pressing necessity of nature unless he could give a 
reason for it." But with all this demand for reasons 
there was a sincere spirit of devotion in the bo}^ and 
such was the consistency of his conduct that his father 
admitted him to the Holy Communion when only eight 
years old. When John was about nine years old he had 
the small-pox, and he bore this terrible disease with a 
patience and fortitude that would shame many grown-up 
Christians. His father was away from home at the time, 
and his mother, who nursed him, wrote to her husband, 
"Jack has borne his disease bravely like a man, and 
indeed like a Christian, without complaint." 

When he was eleven he left his humble home at 
Epworth, and, by the favor of the Duke of Buckingham, 
' entered at the Charterhouse, a famous school in the city 
of London. He had a hard time among the bad boys at 
this school. The older and stronger boys would often 
take from the younger and weaker ones the meat that 
was allowed with their bread ; they served little Jack in 
this way, so that for a large part of the five years that 



6 A niSTOUY OF JIETIIODISM 

he staid there the only solid food he had was bread. 
But he kept his health by doing every day what his 
father had told him to do when he left home — this was 
to run round the garden three times every morning. 
Though he was often insulted and mistreated by the big, 
rough boys of the school, he was very patient, obeyed 
all the rules, studied very hard, and took a high position 
among the best scholars. In this public school he did 
not have the examples and counsels that he had had at 
his home, and he did not continue to be as good a boy 
as he had been. He says, outward restraints being- 
removed, he was much more negligent than before, even 
of outward duties, and was almost constantly guilty of 
outward sins, which he knew to be such, though they 
were not thought to be very great sins in the eyes of the 
world. But he still read his Bible and said his prayers 
morning and evening. He said he hoped to be saved by 
not being quite as bad as other people, by havmg a 
kindly feeling for religion, by reading the Bible, saying 
his prayers, and going to church. But he found out 
afterward that it takes a great deal more than this to 
make a person a true Christian. 

At seventeen, John Wesley left the Charterhouse 
school and entered as a student at Christ Church Col- 
lege, in the University of Oxford. Both as a school boy 
and a college student, his life was a hard one for several 
years. When he was an old man, in thinking over his 
boyish days, he said : " How marvellous are the ways of 
God ! How has he kept me even from a child ! From 
ten to thirteen or fourteen, I had little but bread to eat, 
and not great plenty of even that. I believe this was 
so far from hurting me, that it laid the foundation of 
lasting health."' 

His father at Epworth had to fight hard with poverty, 



roil OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. / 

aud so had be to do at Oxford. He did not seem to 
know much of the value of mone}^, and spent what little 
he could get too freel}^ which often brought him into 
trouble. He used to write to his mother very often and 
tell her of his trials ; she always helped him as far as 
she could, and wrote him very encouraging letters. In 
one of these she said : " Dear Jack, be not discouraged ; 
do 3^our duty ; keep close to youv studies, and hope for 
better days. Perhaps we shall pick up a few crumbs 
for you before the end of the year." Such words from 
his noble mother kept his spirits up, and he worked on 
harder than ever. He said in a letter to his mother 
about his manner of living at college : " TVe are most of 
us now very healthy at Oxford ; fruit is so very cheap 
that apples may be had almost for fetching ; and other 
things are both plentiful and good." He says the}'' had 
plenty of rogues about the college, and tells of a gentle- 
man who had his cap and wig snatched off his head by a 
rogue as he stood at the door ; he ran after the thief, 
but could not catch him. Jack said to his mother in the 
same letter : "I am pretty safe from such gentlemen ; 
for unless they carried me away, carcass and all, they 
would have but a poor purchase." 

All the Wesley children were of a gay, lively, witty 
turn of mind, and enjoyed life very much. Charles was 
a gay young man at college, and so was John to a cer- 
tain extent ; but he was at times very serious, and 
though he says he indulged in many known sins, he tried 
to keep up a fair moral character. He was human and 
frail, like all men, and found cause to repent deeply 
before he became an earnest and happy Christian. Any 
incident that had religious point in it made a deep im- 
pression on his mind. Late one evening the porter of 
his College, a poor but pious man, came to his room and 



8 A HISTORY OF BIETHODISM 

said he wished to talk with him. Wesley told him, after 
a little pleasantry, to go home and get another coat. 
The porter replied, " This is the only coat I have got in 
the world, and I thank God for it." Wesley said, " Go 
home and get your supper." The man replied, " I have 
had nothing to eat to-day, but a drink of water, and I 
thank God for that." Wesley said, " It is late, and you 
will be locked out, and then what will you have to thank 
God for?" "I will thank Him," replied the porter, 
"that I have the dry stones to lie upon." "John," said 
Wesley, "you thank God when you have nothing to 
wear, nothing to eat, and no bed to lie upon. What else 
do you thank Him for?" "I thank Him," returned the 
poor fellow, "that He has given me life and being; and 
a heart to love Him, and a desire to serve Him." This 
conversation made a deep impression on the mind of the 
young student, and convinced him that there was some- 
thing in religion to which he was a stranger. 

For five years Wesley studied hard and maintained 
his reputation as a fine scholar. He amused himself 
occasionally with writing verses. One of his poems was 
addressed to a young lady whom he called Cloe ; it was 
such an effusion as a smart 3^oung fellow, full of life, 
might be expected to produce. 

Wesley's health was not very good while he was at Ox- 
ford. He was often troubled with blecvding at the nose. 
Once while he was walking in the country he bled so 
much that he was almost choked, and to stop the bleed- 
ing he had to strip off his clothes and leap into the 
river. 

When Wesley went to Oxford he had not made up his 
mind to become a preacher of the gospel ; he was at 
first more inclined to become a teacher, and he was at 
college more than four j^ears before he thought seriously 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 9 

of entering the ministry. His good father cautioned 
him against improper motives, and told him he must not 
become a minister " as Eli's sons did, to eat a piece of 
bread, but for the glory of God and the good of men." 
He began when about twenty-two to study divinity in 
earnest. God, he said, directed him to a book called 
*'Kempis' Christian's Pattern," and he saw that true 
religion is seated in the heart, and that God's law 
reaches to all our thoughts as well as words and actions. 
He met with a religious friend about this time, and he 
begiin to change the whole form of his conversation and 
to set out in earnest upon a new life. An hour or two 
every day he set apart for private prayer and meditation. 
He watched asrainst all sin in word and deed. 

He began to aim at and pray for inward holiness, and 
he says, " Now doing so much and living so good a life, 
I doubted not that I was a good Christian." 

Another book fell into his hands, which deeply im- 
pressed his heart ; this was called " Holy Living and 
Dying," and was written by Jeremy Taylor, a pious and 
eloquent preacher of the Church of England. These 
were the first books "Wesley read on practical divinity, 
and he held them in very high esteem as long as he 
lived. He now began to record the events and exercises 
of his every day life, and thus grew up that marvellous 
book called Wesley's Journals. Wesley's life was now 
wholly changed. He determined to give all his life to 
God, but even this, he said he saw would profit him 
nothing unless he gave his heart, yea, all his heart to 
Him. Here was the turning-point in Wesley's life. 
From this time he never rested until he was satisfied of 
the pardon of his sins and of his acceptance with God ; 
but it was thirteen years after this time before that 

happy day dawned upon him. 

2 



10 A HISTORY OF IMETHODISM 

After a great deal of thought, reading, conversation 
with pious people, interchange of letters with his father 
and mother, and earnest prayer, he made up his mind to 
be a minister, and was ordained September 19, 1725. 

John Wesley was ordained a Deacon by Bishop Potter, 
who from very humble life rose to a high place. He was 
rather a proud, stiff man, and a rigid high-churchman, 
but had a friendly feeling for the Methodists. Some 
one complained to him about them, but he only said, 
"These gentlemen are irregular; but they have done 
good, and I pray God to bless them." Wesley always 
thought well of Bishop Potter, and called him " a great 
and good man." 

Wesley preached his first sermon at a small village 
called South Leigh. Forty-six years afterward he came 
there and preached again, and found one person who 
had heard his first sermon. In March, 1726, he was 
elected Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford. A Fellow 
of an English college is a person who, on account of his 
good character and learning, is elected by the authorities 
of the college to share in its revenues and to teach the 
younger students as a tutor. In the course of time, if 
the Fellows are diligent and attentive to their duties 
they ma}^ be elected to professorships in their own or 
some other college. It is said that the room in which 
Wesley lived is still called " Wesley's room," and a vino 
that creeps round the window is called "Wesley's vine." 

The young men in Wesley's college he liked very 
much. He said in a letter to his brother Samuel, who 
had helped him to obtain the Fellowship, "All the 
Fellows I have 3''et seen are both well-natured and well- 
bred." He now set himself to study harder than ever, 
and said to his brother, "Leisure and I have taken 
leave of one another. I propose to be busy as long as 



FOR Om YOUNG PEOrLE. 11 

I live ;" and he was one of the busy men of the workl 
to the day of his death. 

In the summer of 1726, "^^esley asked leave of ab- 
sence from his college for a time to go and see his 
parents at Epworth. While he was there he usually 
read pra3''ers and preached twice every Sunday. This 
was a great help to his father, who had two parishes on 
his hands. He still studied hard, and talked freely with 
his father and mother on religious subjects, and carefully 
wrote in his diary such rules and advice as he thought 
would be useful to him in after life. 

About this time Charles "Wesley had removed from 
Westminster School, where he had been a scholar for 
five years, to Christ Church College, Oxford. He was 
born December 8th, 1708, and was therefore five j^ears 
younger than John. The names of John and Charles 
Wesley are forever associated in the history of Metho- 
dism. As a Christian Poet, Charles Wesley never had 
a superior, and a great many of the most familiar and 
beautiful hymns in our Hymn Book were written by 
him. John was also a fme poet, and composed some 
excellent hj^mns. 

In September, 1726, John went back to Oxford, and 
gladly re-entered upon his studies. Everybody that 
knew him thought a great deal of him, as a man of good 
character and much learning. Two months after he 
came back, and when he was twenty-three, he was 
elected Greek lecturer and moderator of the classes in 
Lincoln College. 

In thinking over what he ought to study carefully and 
thoroughly, Wesley made up his mind to study such 
things as would make a quick and sure return. He said 
to his mother that he agreed with her in the opinion that 
there are many things it is not worth while for a person 



12 A inSTORY OF SIETnODISM 

to know. He said if he had a hundred or two hundred 
3^ears to live, he might be tempted to spend part of his 
time on curious trifles, but in a short life he thought peo- 
ple should try and learn those things that will be really 
useful to them. 

Besides this care in selectins; his studies, he now be- 
gan to devote himself more earnestly to a religious life. 
He watched closely against sin ; he advised others to be 
religious " according," he says, " to that scheme of reli- 
gion by which I modelled my own life." Wesley now met 
with two books that had a powerful influence on his life. 
These were Law's "Christian Perfection" and " Serious 
Call to a Devout and Holy Life." He read them with 
great interest, and though he did not agree with the 
author on some points, yet he was by them more deeply 
convinced "of the exceeding height, and breadth, and 
depth of the law of God." The light shone so strongly 
upon his soul that he saw everything in a new view ; he 
prayed most fervently, and resolved to keep the whole 
law, inward and outward, to the utmost of his power. 
He could not rest in being half a Christian, and says he 
determined to give God all his soul, body and substance. 
Wesley was truly sincere in trying to be religious, if 
any man ever was, but it was years after this time be- 
fore he could say that he knew that God for Christ's 
sake had pardoned his sins. 

Li February, 1727, Wesley took his degree of Master 
of Arts. He was now established in his college as a 
man of great talent and learning, and of course had a 
number of companions who knew and cared but little 
about reli2:ion. He determined to break off from all 
associates except such as he thought would help him 
to be a Christian. When wild and thoughtless young 
men came to his room, he treated them kindly, but to 




Mrs. Susannah Wesley. 



Face page 13. 



FOll OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 13 

the question, "^Ylieii will you come to see me?" he 
says, " I returned no answer. When they had come a 
few times, and found I still declined returning the visit, 
I saw them no more. I knew many reflections would 
follow ; but that did not move me, as I knew full well it 
was my calling to go through evil report and good 
report." 

He laid down a plan of study which he followed 
closely. Mondays and Tuesdays he gave to Greek and 
Roman classics, historians and poets ; Wednesdays to 
logic and ethics ; Thursdays to Hebrew and Arabic ; 
Fridays to metaphj^sics and natural philosophy ; Satur- 
days to oratory and poetrj^ chiefl}^ composing ; Sundays 
to divinty. In his spare hours he studied French and 
mathematics, and occasionally experimented in optics. 
Wesley's plan for reading was this — he read a book 
regularly through, and then transcribed in a common-place 
book such passages as struck his mind as valuable and 
beautiful. By this method he forced himself to do much 
hard work, but he stored his mind with a vast amount of 
knowledge. 

Wesley's father was now sixty-five years old, and 
suffered much with sickness. He was very anxious to 
have John to come and assist him in his pastoral work. 
Mrs. Wesley's health was also bad, and these reasons in- 
duced the loving and dutiful son to leave his College 
studies and become his father's curate at Ep worth and 
Wroote. 

We have already described Epworth where the Wesley 
family lived. Wroote is pictured as a wretched place, 
surrounded with bogs and inhabited by a very poor class 
of people. Samuel Wesley, John's brother, said the 
parsonage was roofed with straw and made lively by the 
mingled music of "kittens and whelps, pigs and porkets, 

lA 



14 A HISTORY OF IMETIIODISM 

bellowing kine and bleating lambs, quacking ducks and 
fluttering hens." The church was a small brick building, 
and the population of the town one or two hundred dull 
and ignorant people. This does not look like a place 
suited to an elegant scholar like Wesley, but he seems 
to have been contented, and perhaps would have staid 
there many years if he had not been called back to Ox- 
ford. His services were so much needed there that 
Dr. Morely, the Rector of the College, wrote him an 
earnest letter to come on at once and resume the duties 
of his Fellowship. He left the poor little parish of 
Wroote and the musical parsonage, and returned to Ox- 
ford in November, 1729. 



FOK OUK YOUNG PEOrLE. 15 



CHAPTER II. 



When John Wesley reached Oxford, he found his 
brother Charles earnestly trying to lead a truly religious 
life. Charles, when he came to college, was very sprightly 
and full of fun and frolic. John spoke to him about 
religion, but Charles answered him gaily " What, would 
you have me to be a saint all at once ?" This did not then 
give much promise of a pious life ; but while John was 
away at Wroote, a great change came over Charles. lie 
became very serious, read good books with attention, 
and attended the weekly sacrament. He induced two 
or three of his fellow students to join him in his plans 
for leading a better life. 

On his return to Oxford John was much pleased to see 
such a change in his brother, and at once joined the little 
band in their good work. They were so regular in their 
behavior that a young man in one of the colleges called 
them Methodists. " This name," says Wesley, " was new 
and quaint, and it clave to them immediately, and, from 
that time, all that had any connection with them were 
thus distinguished." Wesley further says, this name 
"was given in allusion to an ancient sect of physi- 
cians, of the time of the Emperor Nero, who taught that 
almost all diseases might be cured by a specific method 
of diet and exercise." But this was not the first time 
the name was used in England. As early as 1693 a 
pamphlet was issued in that country with the title " A 
War Among the Angels of the Churches ; wherein is 
shewed the Principles of the New Methodists in the 
great point of Justification. By a Country Professor of 
Jesus Christ." It is also said that as early as 1639 in 



18 A inSTORY OF IMETIIODISM 

some of the sermons of the day reference was made to 
" plain pack-staff Methodists, who esteem all flowers of 
rhetoric in sermons no better than stinking weeds, and 
all elegance of speech no better than profane spells." 
So it seems that those who were called Methodists at 
that early day, almost a hundred years before the Ox- 
ford Methodists arose, were a plain people and liked 
plain preaching. As a matter of interest we give the 
names of those young men at Oxford who were in de- 
rision called Methodists. The four who first bore this 
name were John and Charles Wesley, Robert Kirkham, 
and "William Morgan ; to these were afterward added, 
George Whitefield, John Clayton, J. Broughton, Benja- 
min Ingham, James Hervey, John Whitelamb, Westley 
Hall, John Gambold, Charles Kinchin, and several 
others. These men were in after years scattered, and 
most of them differed widely in religious views, but they 
must ever be noted in the history of religious revivals 
as the men who started Methodism on its way as a form 
of " Christianity in earnest." The leader of the band 
was John Wesley. He was nicknamed in the university 
" the Curator of the Holy Club." Some called him " a 
crack-brained enthusiast," but none of these things 
moved him. To a man who reviled him one of the chap- 
lains said that John Wesley " would one day be a standard 
bearer of the cross, either in his own country or beyond 
the seas." The young men of the Methodist band were 
of one heart ; they were orderly in everything, and punc- 
tually kept all the rules of the Church of England, and 
all the regulations of their respective colleges. They 
cheerfully shared their worldly goods with each other, and 
were glad to extend a helping liand to the sick and poor. 
They met every night and reviewed what had been done 
during the day, and laid their plans for the next day's 



FOK OUR YOUNG TEOrLE. 17 

work. Their meetings were opened with prayer, and 
closed with a plain supper. They had various plans 
of usefulness. Some talked with young students and 
sought to draw them away from bad company ; others 
visited and instructed poor families ; some taught school, 
while others regularly visited the parish workhouse and 
the prisons, where they taught the inmates and circu- 
lated plain, good books. They raised a fund among 
themselves to buy books, medicines, and other things 
they might need in visiting the prisoners and paupers. 
One of the schools they attended John Wesley had 
founded, and he paid the teacher out of his own means 
and clothed nearly all the scholars. 

Now, what did the world say as it looked upon the 
work of these early Methodists ? Why, it called them 
such names as "Bible bigots," and "Bible moths," 
"The Godly Club," "The Enthusiasts," "The Reform- 
ing Club," &c., &c. In the midst of all these jeer^ and 
revilings, Wesle}'-, the leader, was calm, and led his 
friends on in the path of duty with a cheerful spirit. 
He set the example and urged his comrades to diligence, 
method and early rising. From five to six o'clock, every 
morning and evening, he spent in secret prayer. His 
pity for the poor was very strong, and his charity limitCvd 
only by his means. One day a poor girl whom the 
Methodist band kept at school, came to see him, shiver- 
ing with cold. Wesley said to her, " You seem half- 
starved ; [starved with cold, is a common expression in 
England even at this daj^] have you nothing to wear 
but that linen gown ?" The poor girl said, " Sir, this is 
all I have." He put his hand into his pocket, but found 
little monej'-. The walls of his room were hung with 
pictures ; he glanced at them and felt conscience-stung. 
"It struck me," he says, "will thy Master say, 'Well 



18 A insTor.Y of imetiiodism 

done, good and faithful steward?' thou hast adorned 
thy walls with the money which might have screened 
this poor creature from the cold ! O, Justice ! O, 
Mercy ! Are not these pictures the blood of this -poor 
maid?" 

It was the custom of the Oxford Methodists to give, 
away each year all they had, after providing' for all 
their own real wants. " One of them," says Wesley, 
(the case was his own,) " had thirty pounds a year ; he 
lived on twenty-eight, and gave away fort}^ shillings. 
The next year, receiving sixty pounds, he still lived on 
twenty-eight, and gave away thirty -two. The third year 
he received ninety pounds, and gave away sixty-two. 
The fourth year he received a hundred and twenty 
pounds ; still he lived as before on twenty-eight, and 
gave to the poor all the rest." Wesley was careful of 
both time and money. While at Oxford, finding he 
awoke every night at about twelve, he concluded that it 
was caused by lying in bed longer than necessary. He 
procured an alarm clock, which awoke him each morning 
at an earlier hour, until he found that when awakened 
at four, he lay awake no longer during the night, and 
he, therefore, fixed that as his hour for rising. Sixty 
years after, referring to this method, he wrote : " By 
the grace of Go:l, I have risen at four o'clock ever 
since, and, taking the year round, I don't lie awake a 
quarter of an hour together in a month." This is won- 
derful. 

Wesley was a hard student and a great reader, but to 
him the book above all other books was the Bible. He 
says : "In 1729, I began not only to read, but to study 
the Bible, as the one, the only standard of truth, and 
the only model of pure religion. Hence I saw in a 
clearer and clearer light, the indispensable necessity of 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOrLE. 19 

liaving ' the mind wliicli was in Christ,' and of ' walking 
as Christ also walked.' " 

The doctrinal views of Wesley at this early day were 
such as he adhered to in after life, and in the midst of 
all his labors and conflicts. In a sermon preached be- 
fore the University of Oxford, January 1, 1731, Wesley 
gave his views on the leading doctrines of the Bible. 
lie said, " Without the Spirit of God we can do nothing 
but add siu to sin ; it being as impossible for us even to 
think a good thought without His supernatural assist- 
ance as to create ourselves, or to renew our whole souls 
in riofhteousness and true holiness. He alone can 
quicken those who are dead unto God, and breathe into 
them the breath of life." By holiness of heart he meant 
" the being cleansed from sin, from all filthiness both of 
flesh and spirit ; and, by consequence, the being endued 
with those virtues which were also in Christ Jesus ; the 
being so renewed in the image of our mind as to be per- 
fect as our Father in heaven is perfect." In "1765, 
Wesle}^ referring to this early sermon, said, " It con- 
tained all I now teach concerning salvation from all sin, 
and loving God with an undivided heart." This blessing 
of a pure heart Wesley held was to be obtained " alone 
by faith in the great truth that Jesus Christ came into 
the world to save sinners." To all who exercised this 
saving grace was given the Spirit, which witnessed with 
their own spirits that they were the children of God. A 
good soldier of Jesus, Wesley said, will renounce the 
works of darkness, and every appetite and every affec- 
tion which is opposed to the law of God. " This," he 
said, " is God's short and plain account of true religion 
and virtue. He hath chosen the living sacrifice of the 
heart. Let it be continually offered up to God through 
Jesus Christ in flames of holy love." These were the 



20 A HISTORY OF IMETHODISM 

doctrines of the Oxford Methodists. Can any man ob- 
ject to them ? 

Let us look for a moment beyond Oxford at the con- 
dition of society in England. By a glance at the morals of 
city and country, we may see what Methodism had to fight 
against in its first movements. A Bishop of the Church 
of England said in a sermon on the Reformation of 
Manners, " The Lord's day is now the devil's market 
day. More murders, more drunkenness, more quarrels 
and murders, more sin is contrived and committed on 
this day than on all the other days of the week togeth- 
er." This statement is enough to show us the condition 
of the middle and poorer classes. In high life pride, 
lust, luxury, and extravagance were common sins. The 
usual sports of the people were dances, puppet-shows, 
prize-fights, cock-fights, wrestling, foot races and tho 
like. The state of relig-ion was as low as it well could 
be. Dissenters and Church men fousfht each other more 
vigorously than they fought sin. In 1713, Bishop Bur- 
net said of the condition of the Church of England : 
" The much greater part of those who come to be or- 
dained are ignorant to a degree not to be apprehended 
by those who are not obliged to know it. The easiest 
part of knowledge is that to which they are the greatest 
strangers ; I mean the plainest parts of the Scriptures. 
They can give no account, or at least a very imperfect 
one, of the contents even of the gospels, or of the cate- 
chism itself." If this describes mau}^ of the clergy, what 
must have been the moral state of their flocks ? In the 
midst of such scenes Methodism went forth on its mis- 
sion. 

Wesley made occasional journe3'-3 from Oxford to visit 
his father, who was fast sinking under the weight of 
years. His father and his brother Samuel were very 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 21 

anxious that he should succeed to the Epworth parish ; 
but lie declined to apply for it. He felt unwilling to be 
confined to a single parish, and thought he could better 
serve God and his Church by remaining at Oxford. 
About this time Wesley became acquainted with George 
Whitefield, who soon joined the Methodist band, andt 
afterward became one of the most earnest, eloquent, and 
successful preachers that the world has ever known. 

Mr. Samuel Wesley, Sr., died April 25, 1735, and not 
long after John was asked by some of his friends to go 
as a missionary to America. He thought of the matter 
seriously, and consulted various friends on the subject. 
He went to Epworth to talk with his mother about it, 
and the answer of that noble woman was worthy of her. 
John told her the trustees of the colony of Georgia 
wished him to go out as a missionary. His mother re- 
plied : " Had I twenty sons, I should rejoice if they 
were all so employed." 

Wesley made up his mind to go to Georgia, and em- 
barked for his distant field October 14, 1735. He was 
accompanied by his brother Charles, Benjamin Ingham 
and Charles Delamotte. " Our aim," he said, " in leav- 
ing our native country was not to avoid want, nor to gain 
the dross of riches or honor ; but singly this — to save 
our souls ; to live to the glory of God." On his voyage 
to America, Wesley was made to feel that his religion 
was not such as cast out of his heart the fear of death. 
On board the ship were a number of JNIoravians from 
Germany, whose steadiness and faith in the midst of 
danger deeply impressed his mind. They had several 
violent storms on the passage. The third storm was ter- 
rible. The English passengers were in great alarm. 
Wesley went to the part of the ship where the Germans 
were and found them all calm, and indeed peaceful. In 



22 A niSTORY OF ^lETIIODISM 

the midst of the tempest while many of the English were 
screaming, " thQy calmly sung on." Wesley asked one 
of them afterward, Were you not afraid ? He said, " I 
thank God, no." " But," said Wesley, *' were not your 
women and children afraid ?" He replied, " No, our wo- 
men and children are not afraid to die." The man's 
words made a deep impression on Wesley, and he felt 
that these simple minded Germans had a secret spring 
of peace to which he was a stranger. 

On the 6th of February, 1736, he landed on American 
ground. General Oglethorpe, the chief of the party, 
"led us," says^ Wesley, "to a rising ground, where we 
all knelt down to give thanks." Wesley had a conversa- 
tion with Rev. Mr. Spangenberg, one of the Moravian 
preachers, which led him to examine his heart more 
closely. Having asked this German brother as to how 
he ought to conduct himself in his new field, Spangen- 
berg said : " My brother, I must first ask you one or two 
questions. Have you the witness within yourself? Does 
the Spirit of God bear witness with your spirit that you 
are a child of God ? "I was surprised," saj^s Wesle}", 
" and knew not what to answer. He observed it, and 
asked, 'Do you know Jesus Christ?' I paused, and said, 
'I know he is the Saviour of the world.' 'True,' he re- 
plied, 'but do you know he has saved you?' I an- 
swered, 'I hope he has died to saA^e me.' He only 
added, ' Do you know yourself?' I said, ' I do.' But 
I fear they were vain words. " 

Wesley entered with zeal upon his duties as the min- 
ister at Savannah, and by every means in his power 
sought to benefit the people ; he also hoped to be able to 
preach successful^ among the Indians, and held several 
interviews with their leading men, but in this he was 
disappointed. He was subjected to much bad treatment 



FOR OUR YOUNG TEOPLE. 23 

at Savannah, and after a service of about two j'^ears he 
returned to England. But his work in America was not 
a faikire. George Whitefield came to Georgia after 
Wesley left, and he wi'Ote of his friend : " The good 
Mr. John Wesley has done in America is inexpressible. 
His name is very precious among the people ; and he 
has laid a foundation that I hope neither men nor devils 
will ever be able to shake. Oh that I may follow him as 
he followed Christ." 

Wesley reached England February 1, 1738, and began 
his work by preaching at the tavern where he lodged. 
On the 3d of Februarj^ he arrived at London and waited 
on the Georgia trustees, told them of affairs in the Col- 
ony when he left it, and gave up his authority as their 
minister at Savanjiah. He preached the next Sunday, 
and never ceased to do so for fifty -three j^cars. He 
preached in many places, and alwaj^s earnestly and with 
good results. As he used to visit and talk to the prison- 
ers at Oxford, so in London he began this work anew. 
In Newgate prison he preached to the convicts, among 
whom were nine persons condemned to die. These poor 
men were much softened under the sermon, and begged 
that Wesley and his brother Charles would be with them 
on the day of their execution. They promised to be with 
them, and on the sad day Charles preached a suitable 
sermon. The poor men wept, and some of them were 
filled with peace. Wesley says: "It was the most glo- 
rious instance I ever saw of faith triumphing over sin 
and death." 

In this year, 1738, Wesley was converted. Before this 
time he says he was almost a Christian. He tried to do 
what he believed to he Tis:ht in the sisfht of God. He 
prayed, he fasted, he read good books, he went to church 
roi^ularly, he visited the sick and relieved their wants as 



24 A inSTORY OF METHODISM 

far as he was able. He was fighting sin, he says, all the 
time, but he was not able to conquer it. He was striving 
with sin, but he was not freed from it. He did not have 
the witness of the Holy Spirit that he was a child of 
God, and for this reason he had many unhappy hours. 
We have seen that he was alarmed at the prospect of 
death in the storm on his voyage to America. This fear 
still clung to him. He says of himself that he did not 
have peace because he " sought it not by faith, but, as it 
were, by the works of the law." But the time was near 
for him to trust in Jesus with the simple faith of a little 
child. He was a very learned man, and knew a great 
deal, but he had to come to Jesus and just ask him like 
a child to give him a new heart. While Wesley was in 
trouble about his spiritual condition he met with a good 
German man named Peter Bolder, who gave him a great 
deal of light on the true doctrine of salvation by faith. 
Bohler told him, when a man is deeply penitent on ac- 
count of his sins, and gives them all up and comes to 
God throuo;h Christ and believes with all his heart that 
Jesus has died for him, and that God for Jesus' sake will 
accept him, he shall be saved from his sins and God will 
give him His Holy Spirit to witness to his heart that 
he is pardoned. Wesley was surprised to hear this ; he 
tried to object to the doctrine, but the more he read the 
Bible the more clearly he saw that this is the very doc- 
trine of the Bible. He says : "Here ended my disputing. 
I could now only cry out, 'Lord, help Thou my unbe- 
lief.' I was now thoroughly convinced ; and, bj^ the 
grace of God, I resolved to seek this faith unto the end. 
1. By absolutely renouncing all dependence, in whole 
or in part, upon my own works of righteousness ; on 
which I had really grounded my hope of salvation, 
though I knew it not, from my youth up. 2. By adding 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 25 

to the constant use of all the other means continual 
prayer for this very thing — justifying, saving faith, and 
full reliance on the blood of Christ shed for me ; a trust 
in Him as my Christ, my sole justification, sanctification, 
and redemption." 

Several of the earlj^ Methodists were ahead of Wesley 
in finding salvation by simple faith in Christ. White- 
field rejoiced in it, and Charles Wesley, while lying ill of 
pleurisy, received the blessing. His brother John and two 
or three friends came to see him, and while in the room 
sang a hymn of praise. After they left, and while he was 
thinking and prajdng he was enabled to believe, and was 
filled with peace and love. But John was still a mourner, 
carrying with him a heavy heart. He felt that he 
deserved only wrath, but in the midst of his gloom, that 
comforting promise was before him, " Believe, and thou 
shalt be saved." He passed three days of deep dis- 
tress. On the fourth day. May 24, 1738, at five o'clock 
in the morning he opened his Testament and his eyes 
fell first on these words, " There are given unto us ex- 
ceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye 
might be partakers of the Divine nature." Just before 
he went out of the house he opened on the text, " Thou 
art not far from the kingdom of God." In the afternoon 
he went to church in the great Cathedral of St. Paul's 
in London, and heard an anthem which was full of com- 
fort to his troubled spirit. At night he went to a little 
prayer meeting in Aldersgate Street, and while there he 
heard a person read Luther's preface to the epistle to 
the Romans, in which that great Reformer teaches the 
doctrine of salvation by faith alone. While he listened 
to the words of the man who had himself been saved by 
faith, Wesley felt a change that astonished him. Let 
him tell us how he felt. 

3 



•26 A. HISTORY OF 3IETiI0DISM 

'• I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust 
in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance 
was given me, that He had taken away my sins, even 
mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death ; and 
I then testified openly to all these, what I now first felt 
in my heart." 

This happy meeting broke up about ten o'clock, and 
he went with some zealous friends to the room of his 
sick brother, where they sang a hymn with joyful hearts, 
and after prayer went to their homes. Wesley had 
for ten or twelve years tried faithfully to practice 
religion, but now he felt it in his heart as a power from 
heaven. In a sermon preached fifty years after this, he 
says before this day he was " as a servant of God," now 
he knew he was a child of God, and felt happy and safe. 
But the devil began to tempt him soon after that night 
when his heart was strangely warmed. He says, he was 
much buffeted with temptations which returned again 
and again. And how much like the temptations of the 
young convert now were those that Wesley felt. He 
says, the day after the enemy injected a fear that the 
change was not great enough, and that his faith was not 
genuine. Two days afterward his soul was in peace, 
but in heaviness because of manifold temptations. The 
next day after this he felt a want of joy, and he resolved 
to spend a part of every morning, until he went to church, 
in unceasing prayer. Seven days after he says he 
grieved the Spirit of God, not only by not watching 
unto prayer, but likewise by speaking with sharpness, 
instead of tender love, of one who was not sound in the 
faith. God seemed to hide his face, and he was troubled 
and in heaviness until the next morning. But Wesley 
fought hard against the devil ; he prayed and read the 
Bible, and gained more and more strength every day. 



FOR OUn YOUNG TEOPLE. ^21 



CHAPTER Iir. 

Eighteen days after Wesley was converted he went to 
Oxford, bnt his old Methodist friends were all gone. He 
felt lonely, and yet he was fnll of peace and joy. "While 
at the University he preached before the masters and 
students on the text, "By grace are ye saved through 
faith." In this sermon he shows with great clearness 
and power that the faith which saves a man from sin is 
" a full reliance on the blood of Christ, — a trust in the 
merits of His life, death, and resurrection, — a recum- 
bency ui^on Him as our atonement and our life, as given 
for us and living in us ; and, in consequence hereof, a 
closino^ with Him and cleavino^ to Him, as our wisdom, 
righteousness, sanctification and redemption, or, in one 
word, our salvation." He described the salvation ob- 
tained by faith to be "a salvation from the guilt of all 
past sin ; from servile fear ; from the power of sin. The 
man who has it is pardoned ; he has the witness of the 
Spirit that he is a child of God ; lie is born again^ and 
he lives without sin." Such was the doctrine which Wes- 
ley preached before the Universit}^ of Oxford, and which 
he maintained all his life as the doctrine of God's holy 
word. He preached another sermon, in which he showed 
from the Bible that " the grace or love of God, whence 
cometh our salvation, is free in all and for all.*' He also 
now began a work which he kept up to the day of his 
death — the printing and circulation of religious tracts. 
He wrote one called : '• The Doctrine of Salvation, Faith 
and Good AYorks : extracted from the Homilies of the 



28 A HISTORY OF jMETIIODISM 

Church of England." He shows in this tract that the 
doctrine of the Church of which he was a minister to the 
day of his death is, that the sinner is justified by faith 
only ; and yet that this faith does not exclude repent- 
ance, hope, love and fear of God, but does shut them out 
from all part in justification. Wesley says of them, 
*' Although they be present together in him that is justi-"^ 
fied, yet they justify not altogether." "Neither," says 
he, "does faith shut out good works, necessary to be 
done afterward ; but we are not to do them with the in- 
tent of being justified by doing them." Wesley also 
showed that "justification is the office of God only, — a 
blessing which we receive of Him by His free mercy, 
throuo;h the merits of His beloved Son." And he fur- 
ther says: " The right and true Christian faith is not 
only to believe that holy Scripture and the articles of 
our faith are true, but also to have a sure trust and 
confidence to be saved from everlasting damnation by 
Christ ; whereof doth follow a loving heart to obey His 
commandments." Wesley also maintained that without 
this true faith, the works we do cannot be good and ac- 
ceptable to God. " Faith," he says, " giveth life to the 
soul, and they are as much dead to God who want faith, 
as they are to the world whose bodies want souls. With- 
out faith all we do is but dead before God, be it ever so 
glorious before men." 

These were the Bible doctrines that Wesley held and 
preached ; and the preaching of them produced one of 
the greatest revivals of religion that has been seen in 
the 'world since the days of the Apostles. It began in 
England and spread abroad until it now reaches into 
every part of the world. It was not by worldl}?" might, 
nor wealth, nor wisdom that Methodism made its way, 
but by the plain, faithful, earnest, preaching of the Gos- 



FOR OUK YOUXG PEOPLE. 29 

pel, and by the zealous, praj-erful, self-denying lives of 
those who became Methodists. 

Mr. "Wesley, as we have seen, was greatly indebted to 
the simple hearted Moravians for guiding him with all his 
learning in the way of life. His talks with Spangenberg 
in Georgia, and with Peter Bohler in London, with what 
he saw of the Moravians in their social meetings, made 
him desire to know more about them. He therefore made 
up his mind to visit them at their chief places in Ger- 
man}'. Three weeks after he was converted he started to 
the settlement of the Moravians at Herrnhuth. He land- 
ed at Rotterdam and set out at once and on foot to find 
the Moravians. He was much pleased with the smooth, 
shad}' roads, the rich fields and beautiful gardens of the 
country. He passed through a number of fine towns 
and cities, and at Cologne, which he says was the ugliest, 
dirtiest place he had ever seen, he and his company had 
quite an adventure. They had been in to see the fine 
cathedral, and as they came out a procession of Roman 
Catholics passed along the opposite side of the church- 
yard. One of Wesley's companions did not take off" his 
hat, when one of the Catholics cried out, " Knock down 
the Lutheran dog." But they all stepped back into the\ 
church, and thus prevented a painful scene. Continuing 
his journey, Wesley came to Marienborn, near which 
place Count Zinzendorf, the leader of the Moravians, 
lived. Here he staid two weeks talking with the breth- 
ren in Latin or English, and hearing the sermons of the 
Count. He was much pleased with the godly simplicity 
of these people, and wrote to his brother Samuel, " God 
has given me at length the desire of my heart. I am 
with a Church whose conversation is in heaven ; in whom 
is the mind that was in Christ, and who so walk as He 
walked. As they have all one LorJ and one faith, so 



80 A insTORY OF ]methodis:m: 

they are all partakers of one Spirit — the spirit of meek- 
ness and love, which uniformly and continually animates 
all their conversation." In one of the many lives of 
Wesley a story is told of the method adopted by Count 
Zinzendorf to make him humble and simple. The Count 
looked upon him as a pupil, and one day ordered him to 
work in the garden. He went to digging, and after he 
had been at work some time with his coat off, the Count 
ordered him to enter a carriage and pay a visit to a 
nobleman who lived near by. Wesley wished to put 
on his coat, but his teacher would not let him do so, 
saying, "You must be simple, my brother." Wesley, 
we are told, quietly submitted, and rode without his coat. 
From this place he went to Herrnhuth, where he spent 
two weeks. Here he had the happy privilege of hearing 
several sermons from Christian David, a pious leader 
among the Moravip.ns. He was benefitted by his visit, 
and greatly pleased with the humble, quiet, godly life of 
these Christian people. He wrote home, " I would 
gladly spend my life here. Oh, when shall this Chris- 
tianity cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea?" 
Wesley left Herrnhuth August 12, and came to London 
September IG, 1738. He preached three times the day 
after he reached the city. Some weeks afterward he and 
his brother Charles were called before the Bishop of 
London to answer a charge of preaching an absolute 
assurance of salvation. When they came before Bishop 
Gibson, and were introduced to him, he said, '-'If by 
assurance you mean an inward persuasion, whereby a 
man is conscious within iiimself, after examining his life 
by the law of G-od, and weighing his own sincerity, that 
he is in a state of salvation, and acceptable to God, I 
don't see how any good Christian can be without such 
assurance." 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 31 

The Wesleys meant more than this by the doctrine of 
assurance which they preached, but the Bishop was 
sound in his views as far as he went, and their preaching 
covered his ground. They talked on several other points, 
and when they parted the Wesle3^s asked him not to re- 
ceive an}' more charges against them except from two 
or three witnesses. The Bishop said, " Xo, by no 
means ; and 3'ou may have free access to me at all times." 
This was a sign of the storm soon to burst upon the 
Methodists. A clergyman of the Church of England, 
William Warburton, quite famous as an author and after- 
wards a Bishop, was among the fii'st to shoot an arrow at 
them. Writing to a friend he says, " What think 3^ou of 
our new set of fanatics, called the Methodists ? There 
is one Wesle}', who told a friend of mine, that he had 
lived most delicioush^ last summer in Georgia, sleeping 
under trees, and feeding on boiled maize, sauced with 
the ashes of oak leaves ; and that he will return thither, 
and then will cast off his English dress, and wear a 
dried skin, like the savages, the better to ingratiate him- 
self with them. It would be well for virtue and religion 
if this humor would lay hold generalh' of our overheat- 
ed bigots, and send them to cool themselves in the In- 
dian marshes." 

This same writer* gave utterance to another slander 
against the Methodists. He says John Wesle}^ and 
another Methodist travelling on foot in very warm 
weather were entertained b}^ a minister of their ac- 
quaintance. On "agoing into their room in the morning 
their host found a vessel fall of blood, '•' and on asking 
the occasion of this free blood letting, was told it was 
their method, when the blood grew rebellious, to draw 
it off by opening a vein ; that they had been heated 
with travel, and thought it proper to cool themselves." 



32 A lilSTORY OF IMETHODISM 

Such were the pitiful slanders told on Wesley and his 
followers, even by leading ministers of the Church of 
England. 

We have now reached the time when Wesley felt 
called to go out into the highways and hedges and call 
sinners to repentance. The spirit of revival was abroad 
in the world at the time that Methodism rose at Oxford. 
In Northampton, in New England, the great preacher, 
Jonathan Edwards, was the instrument in brino-ino; about 
a wonderful revival. He preached the great doctrine of 
justification by faith alone. The flame of revival spread 
far and wide in America, and the work of grace was 
known as " The Great Awakening." About the same 
time a great work broke out in Wales under the preach- 
ing of Howell Harris. He went to the University of 
Oxford after the Wesleys left it for America. He was 
happily converted, and began to preach in Wales at the 
very time that Wesley was preaching in Georgia. Har- 
ris visited from house to house and talked to the people 
about religion. A deep concern was felt among all 
classes. . Great crowds flocked to hear Harris preach. 
The magistrates and the clergy tried to stop him, but 
he went on with his good work, travelling over the 
country and often preaching as many as five or six ser- 
mons a day to great crowds. Howell Harris was an 
itinerant preacher a year and a half before Wesley and 
Whitefield began their out-door preaching. 

Near the same time a revival began in Scotland. In 
the town of Kirkintilloch a few children began to hold 
prayer-meetings, and from the labors of these little ones 
the work began to spread on all sides. The young con- 
verts held meetings in barns, in schoolliouses, or in the 
fields, and many hundreds were converted. In addition 
to these, we have already referred to the religious revival 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 33 

in Germany under the preaching of the Moravians. It 
is worthy of notice that these revivals in different coun- 
tries were all the fruit of the same kind of preaching. 
Salvation by simple faith in Christ was the theme of 
Jonathan Edwards preaching in America, of Howell 
Harris in Wales, of Mr. Robe in Scotland, and of Chris- 
tian David in Germany. It was also the theme of the 
Wesleys, Whitefield, and their colaborers in the great 
revival on whose stirring scenes we are about to enter. 
At the close of the year 1738, Wesley was shut out of 
nearly every pulpit of the Established Church. For three 
months in the early part of 1739 he preached only five 
or six times. Burning with zeal for God, he could not 
endure to be silent. He left London and went to Bris- 
tol. Whitefield had gone to the same town, and all the 
churches being: shut against him, he went out to Kins^swood 
and preached in the open air to about tv\'0 hundred col- 
liers. This was on February 17, 1739, and is the date of 
the fii'st open air service held by the Methodists. The 
news of the preaching spread far and wide. The people 
flocked to hear the eloquent preacher. At the second 
service Whitefield had two thousand hearers, at the third 
four thousand, and at his fifth service there were ten 
thousand. Whitefield was amazed and was filled with 
joy. He went from place to place preaching with 
wonderful power and effect. At a place called Rose 
Green he had twenty thousand hearers. He sent 
for Wesley to come and help him. He came and 
heard Whitefield preach an open air sermon. He 
says : "I could scarcely reconcile myself at first to this 
strange way of preaching in the fields, having been all 
my life (till very latel}^) so tenacious of every point re- 
lating to decency and order, that I should have thought 
the saving of souls almost a sin, if it had not been done 



34 A HISTORY OF IIETIIODISM 

in a church." On the 2d of April Wesley followed the 
example of Whitefield and preached in the fields. He 
says: "April 1. — In the evening, Mr. Whitefield being 
gone, I began expounding our Lord's sermon on the 
mount, (one pretty remarkable precedent of field preach- 
ing, though I suppose there were churches at that time 
also,) to a little society which was accustomed to meet 
once or twice a week in Nicholas Street." The next 
day he boldly broke ground as a field preacher. " Mon- 
day, April 2. — At four in the afternoon I submitted to 
be more vile, and proclaimed in the highways the glad 
tidings of salvation, speaking from a little eminence in 
a ground adjoining the city, to about three thousand 
people." The text from which Wesley preached his first 
field sermon was strikingly appropriate. It was this : 
" The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath an- 
ointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He hath 
sent me to heal the broken hearted ; to preach deliver- 
ance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind ; 
to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the 
acceptable year of the Lord." Wesley was now com- 
mitted to field preaching, and he tells us why he preached 
the gospel in the open air of heaven. He says he was 
forbidden as by general consent, though not by any ju- 
dicial sentence, to preach in any church ; that no rooms 
that he could get would hold a tenth of the people that 
wanted to hear the gospel. He said he determined to 
do in England what he had done in a warmer climate — 
go out of doors and preach under the trees, or on the 
common, or by the wayside. It was matter of necessity 
that he preached in the open air. Some of his friends 
wished him to go back to College and be a tutor or pro- 
fessor, or to take charge of a parish. He declined both, 
saying he had no business at college, as he had no office 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. OO 

there and no pupils, and as to a parish, none had been 
offered him. " God," he says, " in Scripture commands 
me, according to my power, to instruct the ignorant, re- 
form the wicked, confirm the virtuous. Man forbids me 
to do this in another's parish ; that is, not to do it at all, 
seeing I have no parish of m}'' own, nor probably ever 
shall. Whom, then, shall I hear ? God or man ? If it 
be just to obey man rather than God, judge ye. I look 
upon all the world as my parish ; thus far I mean, that, 
in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and 
my bounden duty to declare unto all that are willing to 
hear, the glad tidings of salvation." These are noble 
words. If we would know the motto of Wesley, and 
the secret of his success, we have it in one word, Work. 
No man that ever lived worked harder or more constantly 
than he did. Once when kept waiting some time by a 
slow person, he exclaimed with some impatience, "I 
have lost ten minutes forever !" 

Wesley was now openly committed to his work of 
saving souls, and he preached to them wherever they 
might gather to hear the word. He got leave to preach 
one day in a church, but just as he was going to it he 
received a letter saying that the minister had heard that 
he was mad, and therefore he could not use his church. 
Wesley was not troubled at this ; he took his stand in 
the open air and preached to the people. Two bad men 
tried to confuse him by singing ballads, but Wesley and 
his friends began to sing hymns, and they outsung the 
bad fellows. Wesley was a man of courage. He was 
calm in the midst of furious mobs, and equally so when 
opposed b}^ fashionable and worldly sinners. At Bath, 
then the most famous place in England for gaiety and 
vice, Wesley was to preach. A vile man, a gambler and 
a rake, commonly called Beau Nash, made up his mind 



36 A HISTORY OF ^EETHODISM 

to prevent Wesley from preaching. Wesley knew of his 
purpose, but this did not deter him from his work. The 
boastings of Nash made the congregation very large. 
People of all classes came out to see Wesley put down 
by Beau Nash. Wesley began his sermon, and after a 
few moments the Beau appeared dressed in the tip of 
the fashion and wearing a big white hat. Then came 
the following scene : 

Beau — " By what authority, sir, do you dare do what 
you are now doing ?" 

Wesley — " By the authority of Jesus Christ, conveyed 
to me by him who is now Archbishop of Canterbury, 
when he laid his hands upon me and said, ' Take thou 
authority to preach the gospel.' " 

Beau — " But this is a conventicle, and contrary to act 
of parliament." 

Wesley — " No, conventicles are seditious meetings ; 
but here is no sedition ; therefore it is not contrary to 
act of parliament." 

Beau — " I say it is ; and, besides, your preaching 
frightens people out of their wits." 

Wesley — " Sir, did you ever hear me preach ?" 

Beau — " No." 

Wesley — " How, then, can you judge of what you 
never heard ?" 

Beau — " I judge by common report." 

Wesley — " Common report is not enough. Give me 
leave to ask you, sir, is not your name Nash ?" 

Beau — " It is." 

Wesley — •' Sir, I dare not judge of you by common 
report." 

This sharp thrust rather disconcerted the fop, but 
after a little silence he said, " I desire to know what this 
people' come here for ?" At this moment an old woman 



FOR OUll YOUXG TEOrLE. 37 

rose and said to Wesle}^ *' Sir, leave him to me ; let an 
old woman answer him. You, Mr. Nash, take care of 
your body ; we take care of our souls ; and for the good 
of our souls we came here." This was a home shot, and 
the great Beau Nash slunk away in silence. As Wesley 
was going home after preaching the street was full of 
people who called out. Which is he? to which Weslej^ 
would repl}^ " I am he," and instantly they were silent. 
When he got to the house where he was staying, the 
servant told him several ladies wished to speak with 
him. Wesley went into the room where they were, and 
salutiug them said, "Ladies, the maid mistook; you 
only wanted to look at me. I do not expect that the 
rich and great should want either to speak with me, or 
to hear me ; for I speak the plain truth ; a thing yon 
hear little of, and do not desire to hear." After a little 
further conversation he retired. Wesley may have 
thought the gay and rich and great did not desire to 
hear him, but the truth he preached took hold on many 
of them, and in after years some of the most earnest 
Methodists were found among the noble and rich people 
of England. 



38 A inSTORY OF 3IETHODIS3I 



CHAPTER IV. 

John Wesley speaks often at this period of visiting 
certain Societies to whom he preached. These were not 
the "United Societies of the people called Methodists." 
The}^ were small bodies of religions people who met at 
certain times, either in private dwellings or rented halls, 
for the purpose of encouraging and instructing one an- 
other in the work of faith. They usuall}^ prayed toge- 
ther, sung psalms, and heard sermons or exhortations 
from ministers or other godly persons who might be 
present. They also engaged in works of charit}^ such 
as releasing imprisoned debtors, relieving the poor and 
sick, and sending orphan children to school. They had 
existed many years before the Wesleys began their 
work. For several jesiYs the two brothers with White- 
field preached to these societies with great success. 
They existed at Oxford, London, Gloucester, Bristol and 
other places. The power of the word of God at their 
meetings was often such as to astonish even the most 
zealous and devout Christians. 

We have seen that Whitefield began open air preach- 
ing among the colliers of Kingswood near Bristol. Six 
weeks afterward he established a school among tliese 
poor and ignorant workers in the coal mines, who gave 
him nearly a hundred dollars for this purpose. A few 
days after this he laid the foundation stone of the house, 
knelt upon it and offered prayer for the success of the 
enterprise. Whitefield collected some money in other 
places, and a few months after sailed for America, leav- 



TOR OVR YOUNG PEOPLE. 39 

ing AVesley to carry on the work he had so well begun. 
Wesle}^ engaged in the plans of his friend with zeal, 
and begged money wherever he went for the "colliers 
school," and thus Kingswood, which remains to this day 
a noble monument to those faithful men, was established. 
Thus Methodism founded a school before a society was 
organized, and from that day she has been the fast 
friend of education. 

In November, 1739, Wesley, being in London, was 
called upon by two gentlemen who urged him to preach 
in a place -called the Foundery. He reluctantly con- 
sented. "Sunday, Nov. 11th," he says, "I preached at 
eight to five or six thousand in the place which had been 
the king's foundery for cannon." This place, which was 
" a vast, uncouth heap of ruins," he was urged to buy. 
He bought it for about $550, but it required a good deal 
more money to fit it up as a place of worship, and the 
entire cost of this grand old hive of Methodism was in 
all nearly $4,000. As this was the first house of worship 
owned by the Methodists, the reader may like a descrip- 
tion of it. The building had a front of one hundred and 
twenty feet and a depth of ninety-three. It had two 
front doors ; one led to the chapel, the other to the 
preacher's house, school and band room. A bell in a 
plain belfry was rung every morning at five for early 
service, and every evening at nine for family worship. 
The chapel would hold fifteen hundred persons ; it had 
no pews, but on the main floor in front of the pulpit were 
« a dozen seats for female worshippers. It had side and 
front galleries. Under the front galleries were the free 
seats for women ; under the side galleries the free seats 
for men. In the front gallery women sat exclusivel}^ in 
the side galleries no one bat men. "From the begin- 
ning," says Wesley, "the men and women sat apart as 



40 A HISTORY OF JtlETIIODISM 

they always did in the primitive church ; and none were 
suffered to call any place their own, but the first comers 
sat down first. They had no pews ; and all the benches 
for rich and poor were of the same construction." Be- 
hind the chapel was a room eighty feet long and twenty 
feet wide, called the band room. Here in winter the five 
o'clock service was held, here the classes met, and at two 
o'clock every Wednesday and Friday prayer meetings 
were held here. The north end of this room was fitted 
up with desks for a school, and in the opposite one was 
Wesley's book room, where his publications were sold. 
Over this large room were Wesley's private apartments ; 
here he lodged when in London, and here his honored 
mother died. Attached to the chapel was a house for 
his assistant preachers and his servants, and a coach 
house and stable completed the establishment. 

This house was the cradle of Methodism. Wesley, 
after fitting it up, began to preach in it regularly about 
the close of the year 1739. He tells us how he con- 
ducted the services. He began with a short prayer, then 
sung a hymn, and then preached about half an hour, then 
sung a few verses, and closed with prayer. The theme 
of his preaching to the poor people that came to hear 
him as early as five o'clock in the morning was salvation 
by faith in Jesus. He was doing more to overturn infi- 
delity by his plain, short sermons from the deal board 
pulpit of "The Foundery," than the great, titled clergy- 
men who opposed him were doing by their long and 
learned essays read from the richly carved pulpits of the^ 
great cathedrals. 

Wesley having now secured a centre for his labors as 
a reformer, was soon made glad that he was not to stem 
the torrent of sin that flowed over England alone. Be- 
sides his brother Charles and Mr. Whitefield, God raised 



FOR OUR YOrXG PEOPLE. 41 

dp a set of men knowii as "lay preachers," wlio were 
powerful helpers of Wesley in his great work. Most 
Methodist historians have named Thomas Maxfield as 
Wesley's first lay helper, but Mr. Tyerman in his recent 
elaborate life of Wesley regards this as a mistake. He 
sa3^s that John Cennick was the first Methodist lay 
preacher. Cennick was the son of Quakers who taught 
him in earl}'' life to fear God. In 1735, while walking 
along Cheapside, one of the great streets of London, he 
was convinced of sin, and at once broke off from card- 
plajdng, song-singing, theatre-going, and other bad hab- 
its. He was converted September 6, 1737, and not long 
after began to preach. Whitefield proposed him as the 
master of Kingswood School, and he went on foot from 
Eeading to Bristol, sleeping all night in an old stable on 
his wa5^ When he reached there he found that Wesley 
had gone to London. He was invited to go out to hear 
a 3'oung man read a sermon to the Kingswood colliers, 
but the preacher did not come, and Cennick had to 
preach in his place. His sermon had good effect. "The 
Lord," he says, "bore witness with my words, insomuch 
that many believed in that hour." He preached again 
and again to large crowds and with good results. Some 
persons desired Wesley to stop him, but so far from do- 
ing so, he encouraged him to go on in the work. He 
differed afterward with Wesley on doctrinal points, and 
after a short life of zeal and useful toil died in 1755. 

Many of Wesley's friends were surprised, and some of 
them astonished and grieved, that he should encourage 
unordained and comparatively unlearned men to preach 
the gospel. It was indeed a startling innovation, but 
the times demanded it and Wesley boldly used such men 
as God raised up to help him in his war against the 
world, the flesh and the devil. They were men converted 

4 



42 A HISTORY OF I^IETHODISM 

to God and they lived by faith in Christ, and this is 
much more than can be said for thousands of clergymen 
who were in that day filling the pulpits of England. 

When the Archbishop of Armagh met Charles Wesley 
at the Hotwells, Bristol, he said to him : 

" I knew your brother well ; I could never credit all I 
heard respecting him and you; but one thing in your 
conduct I never could account for, your employing lay- 
men." 

"My Lord," said Charles, "the fault is yours and your 
brethren's." 

"How so?" asked the archbishop. 

"Because," said Wesley, "you hold your peace, and 
the stones cry out." 

"But I am told," said the primate, "that they are un- 
learned men." 

" Some are," said the witty Charles, " and so the dumb 
ass rebukes the prophet." 

The archbishop said no more. 

The earnest labors of the Wesleys began now to yield 
substantial fruits. "In the latter end of the year 1739," 
writes John AVesley, " eight or ten persons came to me 
in London, who appeared to be deeply convinced of sin 
and earnestly groaning for redemption. They desired 
that I should spend some time with them in prayer, and 
advise them how to flee the wrath to come. That we 
might have more time for this great work, I appointed a 
day when they might all come together, which, from 
thenceforward, they did every Thursday in the evening. 
To these, and as many more as desired to join them (for 
the "number increased daily), I gave those advices, from 
time to time, which I judged most needful for them, and 
we always concluded our meeting with prayer suited to 
their several necessities. This was the rise of the United 



FOR OUR YOrXG PEOPLE. 43 

Society, first in London, and then in other places." At 
the first meeting there were twelve persons ; the next 
week thirty or forty. When they increased to about a 
hundred, Wesley took down their names and places of 
abode, for the purpose of calling on them at their 
homes. 

Most people that know little of Methodism think that 
every phase and movement of the system was well 
studied and planned by Wesley beforehand. This is a 
great error. The growth of Methodism was providen- 
tial. Wesley as a wise, thoughtful and prudent man, 
watched closely for the open doors and stood ready to 
enter in and work for the salvation of men. He says in 
reference to what we have just quoted from him, '-'Thus, 
without any previous plan, began the Methodist Society 
in England, — a company of people associated together 
to help each other to work out their own salvation." 
What a simple and beautiful definition of a body of 
persons striving to serve God on earth, and so to live as 
to hear him say at the last day, "Well done, good and 
faithful servants, enter into the joy of your Lord." 

Wesley had a very sincere love for his Moravian bre- 
thren by whom he had been led on in the way of salva- 
tion, and for some time he joined heartily with them in 
their religious meetings, but he found that some of their 
leading men were teaching doctrines which he believed 
to be against the Bible, and he broke off from them. 
Many of the Moravians followed him, and became mem- 
bers of his Societies. 

The life of Wesley was full of work and full of inter- 
esting incidents. While he was preaching on one occa- 
sion in a hall in London the floor gave way, but the cel- 
lar below was filled with hogsheads of tobacco, which 
caught the shiking mass of people so that nobody was 



44 A HISTOEY OF :METnODISM 

hurt, and after the floor settled a foot or two he quietly 
went on with his sermon. Wesley made up his mind to 
keep back from no sacrifice and from no place where 
work for God was to be done. He said, "I am ready to 
go to Abyssinia or to China, or whithersoever it shall 
please God to call me." 

Besides the opposition Wesley met from proud church 
men, and from the wicked world, he had to meet harsh 
words from members of his own family. His brother 
Samuel, who died suddenly November 6, 1739, though a 
man of learning and of a generous mind, wrote some 
very hard things about the work his brothers were en- 
gaged in. When he heard that they were preaching in 
the fields to thousands of poor sinners, he wrote to his 
mother that "he had much rather have them picking 
straws within the walls than preaching in the area of 
Moorfields." Wesley was well prepared to meet all who 
opposed him in his work in the spirit of Christian love. 
He had in his heart the assurance from God's Holy 
Spirit that he was in the path of duty, and this gave him 
joy and peace, as it will to every one that tries to know 
and to do his duty. 

As the Methodists increased the opposition to them 
grew stronger. Men wrote and spoke against them with 
much violence, and their doctrines and their preaching 
were put before the public in a false light. A number 
of persons urged Wesley to publish a tract to show what 
Methodism was. He did so, and sent out a little tract 
called "The Character of a Methodist." He says, "A 
Methodist is one who has the love of God shed abroad 
in his heart by the Holy Ghost given unto him ; one who 
loves the Lord his God with all his heart, and with all 
his soul, and with all his mind, and with all his strength. 
He rejoices evermore, prays without ceasing, and in 



FOr. OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 45 

ever3^thing gives thanks. His heart is full of love to all 
mankind, and is purified from envy, malice, wrath, and 
every unkind or malign affection. His own desire, and 
the one design of his life, is not to do his own will, but 
the will of Him that sent him. He keeps not only some, 
or most of God's commandments, but all, from the least 
to the greatest. He follows not the customs of the 
world ; for vice does not lose its nature through its be- 
coming fashionable. He fares not sumptuously every 
day. He cannot lay up treasures upon earth any more 
than he can take fire in his bosom. He cannot adorn 
himself, on any pretence, with gold or costly apparel. 
He cannot join in any diversion that has the least ten- 
dency to vice. He cannot speak evil of his neighbor, 
no more than he can tell a lie. He cannot utter unkind 
or idle words. No corrupt communication ever comes 
out of his mouth. He does good unto all men ; unto 
neighbors and strangers, friends and enemies." This is 
Wesley's portrait of a Methodist. Who recognizes him- 
self when he looks into this mirror ? " These," he says, 
" are the principles and practices of our sect ; these are 
the marks of a true Methodist. By these alone do 
Methodists desire to be distinguished from other men." 
Wesley had no sooner formed his Societies than he set 
to work to provide them with such books as he thought 
would promote the piety of the members. Singing he 
always regarded as a profitable and delightful part of 
public worship, and in this year, from which we date the 
rise of the Methodist Church, he published "Hymns and 
Sacred Poems," for the use of his people. He taught 
the early Methodists to sing the praises of God as a 
duty, and heartily did they, in the great congregations 
and in class meetings and prayer meetings, pour out 
iheir hearts in sono^. Methodists should never foro;et 



46 A inSTORY OF 3IETnODISM 

the power of Christian hymns in their work, and no 
fancied refinement of the times and no affectation of what 
some people call the higher forms of sacred music, should 
cause them to throw away as useless the soul stirring 
songs of Zion which have always sounded through the 
hosts of our Israel in battles with the powers of dark- 
ness. Let us never turn aside from the old paths. In 
the way of our fathers we should still walk, for it has 
been the way of peace, joy and factory to man}^ thou- 
sands. 

The work of Wesley was now becoming so great as to 
demand his constant labor and care. In London and 
Bristol he saw the wonders of the power of God. A 
man who had robbed him of money collected for his 
Kingswood school was arrested, tried, and condemned to 
death. "Wesley heard of it and rode two hundred miles 
to see the poor wretch, and by his efforts not only 
brought the man to a sense of his guilt and to deep 
penitence, but helped to secure a commutation of his 
sentence to transportation for life. 

At Bristol, under his preaching, which was always 
calm, but A^ery earnest and pointed, the convictions were 
powerful and indeed awful. While he was administering 
the hol}^ sacrament to a sick person in a private house, 
a woman " sunk down as dead ;" after several days of 
conflict with Satan she was joyfully converted. On one 
occasion after he had preached, a person cried out, " I 
have sinned beyond forgiveness. I have been cursing 
you in my heart, and blaspheming God. I have hell in 
my heart." That must have been awful preaching that 
could extort such cries. Again at Bristol, there was a 
mingled scene. In the midst of the exercises some of 
the people began to laugh, and though it was a grief to 
them to do so, they seemed to have no power to resist. 



FOll OUR YOUNG TEOPLE. 47 

« One woman, who was known to be no dissembler, some- 
times laughed till she was almost strangled ; then she 
broke out into blasphemies, and stamped and struggled 
with incredible strength, so that four or five persons 
could scarcely hole her ; then she cried out, ' O eternity, 
eternity ! O that I had no soul ! that I had never 
been born !' " But at last she called upon Christ in 
faith, and her excitement ceased and her soul found 
peace. Wesley attributed these wild scenes to the power 
of the devil over the souls of those who had served him, 
but were now brought under the influence of the truth. 
He thought the devil would even sometimes try to divert 
the thoughts of good people in the same way, and gives 
an incident in his own history. He sa^'^s one Sunday 
while he and his brother Charles were at Oxford, they 
were walking in the meadows singing psalms, when all 
at once Charles burst out laughing. John asked him if 
he was crazy, and began to feel angry. But a few mo- 
ments after he began to laugh as loud as Charles, and 
neither of them could stop, and were forced to go home 
without singing another line. 

Wesley was a most active man in helping the poor. 
In a very severe winter when hundreds of people in 
Bristol were thrown out of work, he went about collect- 
ing money and sometimes fed as many as a hundred and 
fifty a day. Soup houses for the poor some people think 
to be of very recent origin, but the Methodist leader did 
just such a work more than a hundred and thirty years 
ago. He was fond of visiting the poor prisoners, and 
did so regularly until the commanding officer at Bristol 
gave orders that no more Methodists should be admitted 
because they were all atheists. "These 'atheists,' " says 
Wesley, " were indeed as little children, not artful, not 
wise in their own eyes, not doting on controversy and 



48 A msTortY of jrETiiODisii 

strife of words ; but truly determined to know nothing 
save Jesus Christ and him crucified." Tlie Wesleys 
were men of great courage as well as great faith. 
Once when there was a riot among^ the Kinsrswood 
colliers on account of the high price of grain, Charles 
rushed into the midst of the excited crowd and finding 
some of the converted colliers, who had been forced to 
join the mob, he took some of each company, "marched 
with them sinsjino^ to the school, and held a two hours' 
prayer meeting, that God would chain the lion." 

A few months after this John Wesley came to Bristol, 
and while he was preaching, a mob filled the streets and 
alleys around the hoiise, and shouted, cursed and swore 
dreadfully. A number of these bad fellows were ar- 
rested, and one of them hung himself within two weeks, 
another fell sick and sent for Wesley to pray for him, 
and a third confessed to him that he had been hired and 
made drunk to create a disturbance, but on reaching the 
place found he had lost the power of speech. 



FOK OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 4D 



CHAPTER V. 

Some confusion as to doctrines arose about this time 
(1740) among the Moravians with whom the Wesley s had 
worked very cordially, and it became necessary to re- 
state clearly what the Methodists held as the teachings 
of the Bible, particularly on the subject of justifying 
faith. 

Some of the leading Moravians held that there are no 
degrees of faith, that there is no justifying faith where 
there is anj^ doubt or fear ; or, in other words, that no 
man is justified unless he is at the same time sanctified 
and possessed of a clean heart. Wesley stated in oppo- 
sition to this what he held and taught: "I assert," he 
says, " that a man may have a degree of justifying faith 
before he is wholly freed from all doubt and fear, and 
before he has, in the full, proper sense, a new, a clean 
heart. That a man may use the ordinances of God, the 
Lord's supper in particular, before he has such a faith as 
excludes all doubt and fear, and implies a new, a clean 
heart." 

AYhen the Moravians received this declaration, they 
declined to allow Wesley the use of their pulpit at Fet- 
ter Lane. Four daj^s after this Wesley went to their 
lovefeast, and read a paper giving clearly his view of 
the errors into which they had fallen, and concluded in 
these words: "I believe these assertions to be flatly 
contrary to the word of God. I have warned you hereof 
again and again, and besought you to turn back to the 
'law and the testimony.' I have borne with you long, 
hoping vou would turn. But, as I find you more and 



50 A insTORY OF :metiiodis3I 

more confirmed in the error of your ways, nothing now 
remains but that I should give you up to God. You 
that are of the same judgment, follow me." He then 
withdrew, and was followed by eighteen or nineteen of 
the Society. A few days after, the seceding members, 
numbering twenty-five men and fifty women, met at the I 
Foundery, and so the Methodist Society was founded in 
this famous place July 23, 1740. 

Wesley soon saw the beneficial result of standing on 
sound Bible doctrine. A few weeks after the separation 
from the Fetter Lane Society, Charles Wesley wrote to 
Whitefield : " The great work goes forward, maugre all 
the opposition of earth and hell. A little one is become 
a thousand. They grow in grace, particularly in humili- 
ty, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus. Innumera- 
ble have been the devices to scatter this little flock. 
The roaring lion is turned a still lion, and makes havoc 
of the church by means of our spiritual brethren." 

Whitefield wrote to Mr. Jas. Sutton deprecating the 
dissensions among the brethren, and closed in his own 
ardent manner : " O, how I long for heaven ! Sureh^ 
there will be no divisions, no strife there, except who 
shall sing with most affection to the Lamb that sitteth 
upon the throne." 

Besides the troubles just mentioned, others arose 
about the doctrine of election and reprobation. A man 
named Arcourt complained that he was not admitted to 
the Society meeting by Charles Wesley because of his 
opinions. "What opinions do you hold?" said John 
Wesley. He said, " That of election. I hold, a certain 
number is elected from eternity ; and these must and 
will be saved ; and the rest of mankind must and shall 
be damned." 

From this time Methodism had to fight the huge, 



FOR OUK YOUNG PEOPLE. 51 

gloomy, cruel dogmas of Calvinism. Wliitefield em- 
braced the views of Calvin, but his loving heart clung to 
the Weslej'S as fellow-laborers in a wide and rich field. 
He wrote to Wesley that he differed with him on the 
election doctrine, but he asks, "Why should we dispute, 
when there is no probability of convincing? Will it not, 
in the end, destroy brotherly love, and insensibly take 
away from us that cordial union and sweetness of soul, 
which I pray God may alwaj^s subsist between us? 
How glad would the enemies of the Lord be to see us 
divided I" 

Wesle}^ thought much on the subject, and at last felt 
it to be his duty to preach a sermon setting forth the 
differences between the Calvinists and the Methodists. 
His sermon was entitled "Free Grace," and the text 
was Romans viii : 32 : "He that spared not his own son, 
but freely delivered him up for us all, how shall he not 
with him freely give us all things?" In an address to 
the reader, Wesley said, " Nothing but the strongest 
conviction, not only that what is here advanced is ' the 
truth as it is in Jesus,' but also that I am indispensably 
obliged to declare this truth to all the world, could have 
induced me openly to oppose the sentiments of those 
whom I esteem for their work's sake ; at whose feet may 
I be found in the day of the Lord Jesus !" 

In his sermon he laid down the principle that God's 
"free grace is free in all and for all." He then defines 
the doctrine of predestination, and shows the absurdity 
involved in it; namely, "Free grace in all is not free 
for all, but only for those whom God hath ordained to 
life.- The greater j)art of mankind God hath ordained 
to death ; and it is not free for them. Tliem God 
hateth ; and therefore, before they were born, decreed 
they should die eternally. And this He absolutely de- 



52 A HISTORY OF JiIETHODISM 

creed because it was His sovereign will. Accordingly, 
they are born for this, to be destroyed body and soul in 
hell. And they grow up under the irrevocable curse of 
God, without any possibility of redemption ; for what 
grace God gives, He gives only for this, to increase, not 
to prevent, their damnation." 

Wesley showed with all the power of his clear, logical 
mind that such were the horrid and repulsive features of 
Calvinism. 

To such as were startled at tl;iis disclosure and who 
said, "Tliis is not the predestination we hold, we hold 
onl}'- the election of grace," he replied : " Though you 
use softer words than some, you mean the self-same 
thing; and God's decree concerning the election of 
grace, according to your account of it, amounts to nei- 
ther more nor less than what others call, 'God's decree 
of reprobation.' Call it therefore by whatever name 
you please, ' election, preterition, predestination, or rep- 
robation,' it comes in the end to the same thing. The 
sense of all is plainly this — by virtue of an eternal, un- 
changeable, irresistible decree of God, one part of man- 
kind are infallibly saved, and the rest infallibly damned ; 
it being impossible that any of the former should be 
damned, or that any of the latter should be saved." 

This plain language uncovers the doctrine and shows 
it in all its deformity and repulsiveness. But it is the 
only statement that is fair, and even the most skilful 
advocate of Calvinism cannot evade the force of Wes- 
ley's logic. He also gave his objections to the doctrine : 
"1. It renders all preaching vain ; for preaching is need- 
less to them that are elected ; for they, whether with it, 
or without it, will infallibly be saved. And it is useless 
to them that are not elected ; for they, whether with 
preaching or without, will infallibly be damned. 2. It 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOrLE. 53 

directly tends to destro}'" that holiness which is the end 
of all the ordinances of God ; for it wholly takes away 
those first motives to follow after holiness, so frequently 
proposed in Scripture, the hope of future reward and 
fear of punishment, the hope of heaven and fear of hell. 
3. It directly tends to destroy several particular branches 
of holiness ; for it naturally tends to inspire, or increase, 
a sharpness of temper, which is quite contrary to the 
meekness of Christ, and leads a man to treat with con- 
tempt, or coldness, those whom he supposes to be out- 
casts from God. 4. It tends to destroy the comfort of 
religion. 5. It directly tends to destroy our zeal for 
good works ; for what avails it to relieve the wants of 
those who are just dropping into eternal fire ! 6. It has 
a direct and manifest tendency to overthrow the whole 
Christian revelation ; for it makes it unnecessary. 7. It 
makes the Christian revelation contradict itself; for it is 
grounded on such interpretation of some texts as flatly 
contradicts all the other texts, and indeed the whole 
scope and tenor of Scripture. 8. It is full of blasphemy ; 
for it represents our blessed Lord as a hypocrite and 
dissembler, in saying one thing and meaning another, — 
in pretending a love which He had not ; it also repre- 
sents the most holy God as more false, more cruel and 
more unjust than the devil ; for, in point of fact, it saj^s 
that God has condemned millions of souls to everlasting 
fire for continuing in sin, which, for want of grace He 
gives them not, they are unable to avoid." I 

Wesle}^ closes his exposure of this dreadful doctrine 
in these words: "This is the blasphemy clearly con- 
tained in the horrible decree of predestination. And here 
I fix my foot. On this I join issue with every asserter of 
it. You represent God as worse than the devil. But 
you say you will prove it b}^ Scripture. Hold ! what will 



54 A HISTORY OF lilETIIODISM 

you prove by Scripture? that God is worse than the 
devil? It cannot be. Whatever that Scripture proves, 
it can never prove this ; whatever its true meaning be, 
this cannot be its true meaning. Do you ask, 'What is 
its true meaning then?' If I say, 'I know it,' you have 
gained notliing ; for there are many Scriptures, the true 
sense whereof neitlier you nor I shall know till death is 
swallowed up in victory. But this I know, better were 
it to say it had no sense at all, than to say it had such a 
sense as this." 

Such was Wesley's position in the conflict with Calvin- 
ism ; and to the end of his life, amid all the strife that 
raged on this subject, he held to what he asserted in this 
sermon. He was to pass through a fiery ordeal in main- 
taining the truth as it is in Jesus, but he faltered not, 
and had the pleasure to know that the doctrine of God's 
fatherly love for all his earthly children, came to the 
hearts of the people with a hope that cheered them on 
in the way of salvation. 

Besides the writings which were published against 
Methodism, those who went out as preachers suffered 
much rough treatment. 

In the year 1740, while Charles Wesley was preaching 
at Bengeworth, a man called him "a scoundrel and a 
rascal," called on the mob to duck him, and actuallj'' 
caught the preacher by the nose and wrung it. John 
Cennick fared worse than this. He was preaching at a 
certain place ; a mob soon gathered, and came with 
horns, drums and brass pans, making a terrible uproar. 
Some of the mob beat the people over their heads with 
the pans. A wild fellow brought a cat in a bag and a 
pack of hounds to have a chase. A man and his wife, 
keepers of an ale-house, rode through the congregation 
cutting right and left with their whips, and forcing their 



YOU OUR YOrXG PEOPLE. 55 

horses to trample upon many persons. The children 
were told to gather dust, which the grown up people 
threw upon the preacher, while others hurled stones and 
dead cats and dogs at him. 

But none of these things turned Wesley aside from 
the path of duty. Kidicule was added to persecution, 
but it did not stop the work of revival. The scenes un- 
der the preaching at the Foundery and other places were 
thrilling and impressive. One day a large number of 
rough men forced their way into the Foundery, and be- 
gan to talk aloud and boldly, but soon the word broke 
them in pieces and the}' confessed their sins. A smug- 
gler rushed in cursing and swearing, but when Wesley 
closed his sermon the poor man declared he would quit 
his sins and mve his heart to God. 

Wesley was incessant in his labors for the poor. He 
used to call upon his well to do friends for all the cloth- 
ing the}'' could spare, which he distributed to the poorer 
Methodists and others. To save others from want, he 
took them into one of his meeting houses, and for three 
or four months employed them in carding and spinning 
cotton. 

The first watch night meeting ever held by the Metho- 
dists was proposed to Wesley by James Rogers, a King- 
wood collier who had been a noted fiddler, but who, when 
awakened under the preaching of Charles Wesley, went 
home, threw his fiddle in the fire, and told his wife he was 
going to join the Methodists. At this watch night meet- 
ing, the people met at half-past eight. The house was 
filled, and Wesley says, "We concluded the year wrest- 
ling with God in prayer, and praising Him for the won- 
derful works which He had already wrought upon the 
earth.-' These meetings became popular among the Me- 
thodists, and they were held monthly ; but some opposed 



56 A HISTORY OF JIETIIODISM 

them, and desired Wesley to hold no more of them. He 
thought the matter over, compared these meetings with 
the practice of the primitive Christians, and said he could 
see no cause to forbid them. "Rather," he says, "I be- 
lieved they might be made of more general use." The 
whole night, sometimes spent by the ancient Chris- 
tians in prayer, called vigils, were present to Wesley's 
mind, and he thought the Methodists could be benefitted 
by following such an example. 

He usually appointed the watch nights on the Friday 
nearest the full moon in each month, and he only desired 
those to attend who could do so without neglecting their 
business or families. 

The calmness of Wesley in the midst of angry mobs 
was remarkable. One Sunday after preaching, when he 
reached his door, he found himself in the midst of a 
mob that quite closed him in. He says : "I rejoiced and 
blessed God, knowing this was the time I had long been 
looking for ; and immediately spake to those that were 
next me of 'righteousness and judgment to come.' At 
first not many heard, the noise round about us being ex- 
ceedingly great. But the silence spread further and fur- 
ther, till I had a quiet, attentive congregation ; and when 
I left tliem, they all showed much love, and dismissed 
me with ms^ny blessings." Wesley's rule was, always 
face a mob, and though his life was often in peril, God 
delivered him from the teeth of the lions. But others 
were not so fortunate. In Wales, William Seward, a 
most excellent man and a travelling companion of White- 
field, was killed by a blow on the head. He was the first 
martyr of Methodism. With Howell Harris he was on a 
preaching tour, and they fell into the hands of the Phil- 
istines. At one town tlie mob tore Harris' coat from his 
back, pulled olf his wig, and pelted him and Seward with 



FOR OrR YOUNG PEOrLE. 57 

apples, dirt and stones. At another place rotten eggs 
were thrown at them. Seward was struck in the eye, 
and after a few daj^s he lost the sight of it. At a third 
place, as they went on preaching, they met like treat- 
ment, but as the eggs, dirt and stones flew around, Sew- 
ard cried out, "Better endure this than hell." At a place 
called Hay a villain struck him on the head. The blow 
was fatal. He died a martj^r at the age of thirty-eight. 

Amid all these scenes the word reached the hearts of 
multitudes with great and saving power. While Wesley 
was preaching at Hemmington, he was accosted by a 
poor old sinner of eighty years notorious for his wicked- 
ness, who came up to him, caught him by the hand, and 
said, " Whether thou art a good or a bad man, I know 
not ; but I know the words thou speakest are good. I 
never heard the like in all my life. O that God would 
send them home upon my poor soul." He then burst in- 
to tears, and could speak no more. On another occa- 
sion, while he was preaching at Short's Gardens in Lon- 
don, the rabble brought an ox, which thej/ tried to drive 
through the crowd, but the ox ran round auvd round, one 
wa}'- and another, until he broke away from them and 
ran off, while the Methodists went on with their meeting. 

Wesley not only preached, but he saw and rejoiced in 
the fruit of his preaching. One of his most faithful and 
devoted female band leaders fell sick ; her patience and 
fortitude were such as to convince the sinner in whose 
house she lay ill of the power of the gospel. 

Wesley came to see her, and as he entered the room 
she stretched out her hand and exclaimed : 

"Art thou come, thou blessed of the Lord? Praised 
be the name of God for this." 

Wesley said, " Do you faint, now you are chastened 
of him?" 

5 



58 A HISTORY OF IMETHODISM 

" O no," she replied, " no, no ; I faint not ; I murmur 
not ; I rejoice evermore." 

"But," said Wesley, "can you in everything give 
thanks?" 

"Yes ; I do, I do," said the djdng saint. 

Said Wesley, "God will make all your bed in your 
sickness." 

She replied, "He does, he does; I have nothing to 
desire ; he is ever with me, and I have nothing to do 
but to praise him." 

Thus in peace and joy she remained until the gates 
were opened and she entered the celestial city. 

Wesley was not without backsliders as well as earnest 
and faithful Christians in his Societies. At Kingswood 
he had trouble with some who had lost their first love 
and fallen into sin. He was compelled to enforce disci- 
pline ; several members were expelled. We give the form 
of the expelling act. After reciting the offences, he says, 
"I, John Wesley, by the consent and approbation of the 
band society in Kingswood, do declare the persons above 
mentioned to be no longer members thereof. Neither 
will they be so accounted until they shall openly confess 
their fault, and thereby do what in them lies, to remove 
the scandal they have given." 

It will be noticed that this expulsion is not upon the 
sole authority of John Wesle}^ but by the "consent and 
approbation of the Society." The result of this trouble 
was that John Cennick and about fifty members broke 
off from Wesley ; this was the first schism in Methodism. 

"The enemies of Wesley tried hard to make a breach 
between him and Whitefield, and in their efforts to do it 
made many misstatements. It seems that Whitefield 
wrote to Wesley in regard to the adornments of some of 
the chief preaching places, and the fine lodging rooms 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 59 

which he had fitted up for himself at Bristol and other 
places. The reader must be amused at Wesley's an- 
swer. "'The society room at Bristol,' j'ou sa}^ 'is 
adorned.' How? Why, with a piece of green cloth 
nailed to the desk ; and two sconces for eight candles 
each in the middle. But 'lodgings are made for me and 
m}^ brother.' That is, in plain English, there is a little 
room in the school, where I speak to the persons who 
come to me ; and a garret, in which a bed is placed for 
me." Such were the rich adornings of Wesley's preach- 
ing houses, and of his own sleeping apartments. 

The zeal of Whitefield, who was an ardent Calvinist, 
led hira to publish a pamphlet in which he spoke impro- 
perly of Wesley ; he soon became convinced that he had 
done his friend a wrong, and begged his pardon. The zeal 
of Whitefield was not imitated by Wesley. He believed 
and preached general redemption ; but raised no objec- 
tion to his friend for preaching election and its conse- 
quences. One of his friends urged him to reply to 
Whitefield's pamphlet. He replied, "You may read 
Whitefield against Wesley ; but jon shall never read 
Wesley against Whitefield." 

In private Wesley opposed the views of his friend, 
but never in public. Once the two met in a large social 
gathering, and Whitefield spoke earnestly in favor of 
his peculiar views. 

Wesley was quiet until the company dispersed, and 
then said : 

"Brother, are 3'ou aware of what j^ou have done to- 
night':" 

"Yes," said Whitefield, "I have defended truth." 

"You have tried to prove," said Wesley, "that God is 
worse than the devil ; for the devil ca.n only tempt a man 
to sin ; but, if what you have said be true, God forces a 



CO A nisTortY of jmetiiodisji 

I 

man to sin ; and therefore, on your own system, God is 

worse than the devil." 

Of course, with views so opposite, they could not con- 
tinue to address the same congregations, and they sepa- 
rated, Whitefield flying like an angel over England and 
across the ocean to preach the truth as he believed it, 
and Wesley, no less active and earnest, though more' 
calm and systematic, went on in his work of preaching 
the gospel and organizing societies. 

The first thing that he did after separating from the 
Moravians and Whitefield was to purge his Societies and 
to organize them on a more efficient plan. He would 
take an account of every person against whom a reason- 
able objection was laid, and if possible bring the accused 
and the accuser face to face. Many were put on trial 
again, and some withdrew from the Societies. By this 
course the Society in Bristol lost forty members. In 
London, where he also carefully sifted the wheat from 
the chaff, the Society was reduced to a thousand mem- 
bers. Wesle}?-, learning that many of the Society were 
in need of food and clothing, appointed twelve persons 
to visit every alternate da}^, and to provide what was 
needful for the sick. These visitors were to meet once a 
week and give an account of their work, and to lay plans 
for the future. Women out of work he proposed to em- 
ploy in knitting, giving them the usual price for their 
work. To help him in this, he asked all the members 
who were able, to give a penny a week, and also to give 
any clothing they did not need for their own use. We, 
see from this that Wesley had lajanen to help him in 
preaching, exhorting and visiting the poor and sick. 
Yfherever he found talent, he used it in extending 
Christ's kincrdom. 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 61 



CHAPTER XL 

About tkis tevie (1741) he began to administer the 
sacrament of the Lord's supper to his members. Usu- 
ally the Methodists received the sacrament in the parish 
churches, but in the autumn of this year Wesley was 
kindly offered the use of a fjmall church in Hermitage 
street by Mr. Delcznot, the pastor, and here he adminis- 
tered the Supper to the whole Society, consisting of a 
thousand members. To the members he gave tickets, 
on which he simply wrote the bearer's name, and this he 
said was as strong a recommendation as if he had writ- 
ten at length, "I believe the bearer hereof to be one 
that fears God and works righteousness." These tickets 
were changed every quarter, and if no new ticket was 
given to a person, it was known that he was no longer 
regarded as a member of the Society. "The earliest of 
these tickets," says Mr. Tyerman, who has a collection 
of them among other Methodist curiosities, " were wood 
and copper-plate engravings, printed on card board with- 
out any text of Scripture : some bear the emblem of an 
angel flying in the clouds of heaven, with one trumpet to 
his mouth, and a second in his hand ; and others of the 
Sun of Righteousness shining on a phranix rising out of 
fire. Some have a dove encircled in glory ; others have 
no engraving, but simply an inscription written by Chas. 
Wesley, 'August, 174-3.' Some merely had the word 
'Society' imprinted, with the member's name written un- 
derneath ; others have a lamb carrying a flag ; and others 
a tree with a broken stem, Jehovah as a sun shining on 
it, and at its foot two men, one planting a new cutting. 



62 A HISTORY OF ^HETIIODISM 

and the other watering one ah-eady planted. Some re- 
present Christ in the clouds of heaven, with the cross in 
one hand, and a crovni in the other ; and others repre- 
sent the Christian kneeling before an altar, inscribed 
with the words, 'Pray alwa^-s and faint not.' Some bear 
the image of old father Time, hurr3ing along, with a 
scroll in his hand, inscribed with, " Now is the accepted 
time.*' These tickets were printed in black, red, or blue 
ink. After a few years texts of Scripture were used 
on them in the place of emblems, and are continued 
to this time. The use of the quarterly ticket is still con- 
tinued among the Wesleyans in England, but in this 
countr}^ we belieye the practice has been everj'-where 
abandoned. 

Methodism was able to attest at this early period that 
its faithful members died well. One d3''ing said ''I never 
felt such love before ; I love every soul. I am all love, 
and so is God." Another, in the midst of great pain, 
sang In'mns at the time, and in the midst of bodily 
agony exclaimed, '-Tliough I groan, I feel no pain at all, 
Christ so rejoices and fills my heart." The last words of 
another were, ''Death stares me in the face, but I fear 
him not." Hannah Richardson of Bristol, who was fol- 
lowed to her grave b}^ all the members, the mob pelting 
the procession with stones and dirt as it moved along, 
said, "T have no fear, no doubt, no trouble. Heaven is 
open ! I see Jesus Christ with all His angels and saints 
in white. I see what I cannot utter or express." 

The scenes that occurred at the open air preaching of 
the Methodists will give an idea of what tlie preachers 
had to suffer from the furious mobs that roared around 
them like bulls of Bashan. John Cenniclc in one place 
had hog's wash and fetid water thrown over him and his 
consrciration for an hour and a half, who all the while re- 



FOR OUR YOUNG TEOrLE. 63 

mained still in secret prayer. At a place called Stratton 
a mob came yelling, and used their clubs freely upon the 
people. Some were cut over their heads and the blood 
streamed down their faces. Women were seized and 
dragged away by the hair. The mob bellowed and roar- 
ed like madmen. But Cennick kept on preaching until 
they caught him and pulled him down. He and his 
friends then set out on foot for another village while the 
mob followed bawling, "You cheating dog, you pocket- 
ing rogue, sell us a half penny ballad !" Besides this 
treatment from the ignorant and besotted rabble, Meth- 
odism had to meet and endure the ridicule of the lead- 
ing fashionable newspapers of the day. Slanders of the 
most shameful sort were published against Wesley and 
his associates. It was reported that he had been fined 
one hundred dollars for selling Geneva gin, that he was 
a pajoist and kept two priests in his house, that he re- 
ceived large sums of money from Spain, and that he was 
getting ready to join the Spaniards with twenty thou- 
sand men as soon as the}^ landed in England. Such sto- 
ries as these were told, and were believed by multitudes 
of people. But in the midst of ridicule from the genteel 
sinners, and of blows and curses from the brutal mobs, 
Weslej'' went steadily on with his work. 

He saw the field widening around him, and he felt the 
need of more men to help him. Tliese God soon raised 
up. Cennick and Humphreys had forsaken him, but 
others came in their stead. John Nelson, the stone ma- 
son, came to London looking for work, fell in with the 
Methodists, and was converted. He became one of the 
'most famous of Wesley's lay preachers. Thomas Max- 
field, converted at Bristol, and who attended for a time 
on Charles Wesley as a servant, being left a while in 
London, met the Societ}'' at the Foundery, and from 



G4 A IIISTOrvY OF METHODISM 

praj'-iiig and exhorting was led on to preaching. His 
sermons were powerful, and many were convicted and 
converted. When Wesley heard of this he hurried back 
to London to stop Maxfield. Spealcing of it to his mo- 
ther, who lived in his house, she said to him, "John, take 
care what 3^ou do with respect to that young man, for he 
is as surely called of God to preach as you are. Exam- 
ine what have been the fruits of his preaching, and hear 
him yourself." 

The Countess of Huntingdon, a member of the English 
nobility, and one of the elect ladies of Methodism, wrote 
of Maxfield, "He is one of the greatest instances of 
God's peculiar favor that I know. He is my astonish- 
ment. The first time I made him expound, I expected 
little from him ; but, before he had gone over one-fifth 
part of his discourse, my attention was rivetted, and I 
was immovable. His power in prayer also is very extra- 
ordinarj'-." 

Wesley was satisfied ; the testimony of two snch wo- 
men as his mother and Lady Huntingdon, with what he 
heard and saw, settled the question of sending out lay 
preachers. 

Wesley made out a strong case in favor of his course. 
He sa^^s that after God had used him and his brother in 
turning many from their sinful lives, the ministers of the 
Clmrch, instead of gladly joining witli them in the work, 
spoke of them " as if the devil, not G od had sent tliem ; 
and represented them as fellows not fit to live — papists, 
heretics, traitors, conspirators against their king and 
countr3^" They actually drove the people converted 
under the ministr}^ of the V»''esle3^s Irom the Lord's table, 
and openly cursed them "in the name of God." AYesley 
well asked, "In a case like this, what could be done? 
No clergyman would assist at all. Tlic expedient that 



FOn OUIl YOUNG PEOPLE. 65 

remained was, to find some one among tliemselvcf^, who 
was upright of heart, and of sound judgment in the 
things of God ; and to desire him to meet the rest as 
often as he could, in order to confirm, as he was able, in 
the waj's of God, either by reading to them, or by 
praj^er, or b}^ exhortation." Thus in the open path of 
Providence Wesley walked, and God's blessing rested 
upon him and the men that helped him. By these un- 
lettered men the Societies were confirmed in the faith, 
and many sinners were converted from the error of their 
wa3^s. Wesley saj^s, "This plain account of the whole 
proceeding, I take to be the best defence of it. I know 
of no Scripture which forbids making use of such help, 
in a case of such necessity. And I praise God who has 
given even this help to these poor sheep when ' their own 
shepherds pitied them not.' " 

In farther reply to those who opposed the use of lay 
preachers, Wesley said : "I am bold to affirm that these 
unlettered men have help from God for the great work 
of saving souls from death. But, indeed, in the one 
thing which they profess to know, the}' are not ignorant 
men. I trust there is not one of them who is not able 
to go through such an examination, in substantial, prac- 
tical, experimental divinit}^ as few of our candidates for 
holy orders, even in the university, are able to do." 

Wesley held and proved that ordination is not a ne- 
cessary prerequisite of preaching. He called attention 
to the fact that many of those who helped forward the 
Reformation of Luther were laymen, and showed that 
all the Reformed churches of Europe permitted men to 
preach before they were ordained. And this practice 
they based on the words of Paul, "Let these first be 
proved, then let them use the office of a deacon being 
found blameless." 



66 A HISTORY OF METHODISM 

It is a noticeable fact that in the very Church from 
which such violent hostility arose against Wesley for 
sending out lay preachers, this practice has been accept- 
ed. In Ma}^ 1869, Dr. Jackson, Bishop of London, in 
the Established Church of England, formally authorized 
eight laymen " to read prayers, and to read and explain 
the Holy Scriptures," and "to conduct religious services 
for the poor in schools, and mission rooms, and in the 
open air" — precisely the sort of work that Wesley's la}^ 
preachers engaged in more than a hundred and twenty 
years before Dr. Jackson's day. 

What a vindication of the wisdom of Wesley in his 
plans for the spread of the gospel among all classes ! 
Well had it been for the Church of England, if, instead 
of ridiculing and casting him out, the great body of the 
Bishops and clergy had joined him in the work of re- 
forming the morals and manners of the kingdom. 

Wesley was an itinerant in the widest sense. The re- 
cord of his labors shows his diligence. He spent twent}^- 
four weeks in London, fourteen in Bristol, one in Wales, 
thirteen in preaching tours to other parts of England. 
In his journeyings he met with Whitefield. Such loving 
and ardent souls could not be kept apart by speculative 
views of theology. Wesley says, "I spent an agreeable 
hour with Mr. Whitefield. I believe he is sincere in all 
he says concerning his earnest desire of joining hand in 
hand with all that love the Lord Jesus Christ. But if, 
as some would persuade me, he is not, the loss is all on 
his side. I am just. as I Avas. I go my wa}^ whether he 
goes with me or stays behind." 

It was soon after this interview that Whitefield had 
one of his grand preaching seasons in Moorfields, Lon- 
don. It was Easter, and to this vast common people of 
all classes flocked to see the shows. On all sides were 



FOU OUn YOUNG TEOPLE. 67 

/]\ouiitebaiiks, fiddlers, drummers, trumpeters, and 'show- 
mcw of all kinds. Wliitefield mounted his pulpit in the 
luidst of twent}^ thousand people. He was instantly 
made a target for dirt, stones, dead cats and rotten eggs. 
A feUow who played the fool in a puppet show tried to 
lash him with a whip ; a recruiting sergeant with drum 
and fife marched through the congregation ; but none of 
these could stop the zealous preacher ; for three hours 
he kept on preaching, praying and singing, and when he 
left the ground as a victor his pockets were full of notes 
from people asking him to pra}" for them. These he read 
when he reached the Tabernacle amid the praises and 
shouts of the vast crowd. A thousand such papers were 
handed in, and three hundred and fifty persons were re- 
ceived into the church in a single day as the fruit of this 
Moorfield's service. 

Whitefieid and Wesley differed widely as the poles in 
their creeds, but in heart and aim the}^ were one. "Mr. 
Wesley," said Whitefield, "I think, is wrong in somo 
things ; but I believe he will shine bright in glory." 
Again in a letter to Wesley he says, " I thank you, dear 
sir, for praying for me. I have been upon my knees 
praying for you and j^ours, and that nothing but love, 
lowliness and simplicit}^ i^ay be among us." 

Wesley reciprocated all the loving words of White- 
field and others who differed from the Metliodists in doc- 
trine. To that most zealous and useful man, Howell 
Harris, he wrote, "Brother, is thy iieart with mine, as 
my heart is with thine ? If it be, give me thy hand. I 
am indeed a poor, foolish, sinful worm ; and how long 
my Lord will use me, I know not. I sometimes think 
the time is coming when He will lay me aside. For 
surely never before did he send such a laborer into such 
a harvest. But, so long as I am continued in the work, 



68 A inSTOIlY OF ]METIIODIS:\I 

let us rise together against the evil-doers ; let us not 
weaken, but strengthen one another's hands in God. 
My brother, my soul is gone forth to meet thee ; let us 
fall upon one another's neck. The good Lord blot out 
all that is past, and let there henceforward be peace be- 
tween me and thee." Such was the Christian spirit in 
which the early Methodist preachers went to their work. 
Is it strange that God put his seal upon the hearts and. 
the work of such men ? 

The year 1739 is usually given as the time of the rise 
of the Methodist Societies, but they were in fact more 
Moravian than Methodistic. It was not until 1742 that 
they were divided into classes and had regular organi- 
zations. The Methodists in London numbered about 
eleven hundred. Up to this time, Wesley and his bro- 
ther had been the preachers and the pastors of their lit- 
tle flocks, but now providentially an alteration was made 
in their plans which gave more life to Methodism than 
any other feature of the system, if we except the preach- 
ing of the gospel. 

Wesley had built a meeting house in Bristol ; a debt 
was due upon it, and the poor preacher and his poor 
members knew not how to raise the money. The lead- 
ing men met to consult about this debt. After some 
talk, one of them said, "Let every member of the Soci- 
ety give a penny a week till the debt is paid." Another 
replied, "Many of them are poor, and cannot afford to 
doit." "Then," said the first speaker, "put eleven of 
the poorest with me, and if they can give anything, 
well ; I will call on them weekly ; and if they can give 
nothing, I will give for them as well as myself. And 
each of you call on eleven of your neighbors weekly ; 
receive what they give, and make up what is wanting." 
"It was done," sa3^s Wesley, "and in a while, some of 



roil OUll YOUNG TEOrLE. 69 

these informed me, they found such and such an oiie did 
not live as he ought. It struck me immediatel}^ 'This 
is the thing, the very thing, we have wanted so long.' " 

Out of this came Methodist class meetinsfs. The col- 
lectors while they gathered the pennies were desired by 
Wesley to make inquir}^ into the behavior and spiritual 
condition of the members. They did so, and disorderly 
persons were arrested and the Societies purged. Wes- 
Ic}^ went to London and tried the same plan with suc- 
cess. He appointed as leaders "those in whom he could 
most confide," and thus the class meeting became a part 
of the S3^stem of Methodism. "This," says Wesley, 
" was the origin of our classes, for which I can never 
sufficiently praise God ; the unspeakable usefulness of 
the institution having ever since been more and more 
manifest." This testimony Methodists should well pon- 
der. At first it was the custom of the class leaders to 
visit each member at his house, but this was found not 
to work well. It was soon agreed that a suitable place 
should be selected where the leader could meet all his 
members together once a week. The leader opened and 
closed the meetings with singing and prayer, and con- 
versed with each person on the subject of personal reli- 
gion. 

Wesley rejoiced over these little social meetings as 
over hid treasure of priceless value. "It can scarce bo 
conceived," he writes, "what advantages have been 
reaped by this little providential regulation. Many now 
experienced that Christian fellowship of which they had 
not so much as an idea before. The}^ began to bear one 
another's burdens, and patiently to care for each other's 
welfare. And as the}'- had daily a more intimate ac- 
quaintance, so they had a more endeared affection for 
each other. Upon reflection, I could not but observe, 



70 A msTor.Y of :metiiodis:i 

this is the very thing which was from the beginning of 
Christianity. As soon as any Jews or heathen were so 
convinced of the truth as to forsake sin and seek the 
gospel of salvation, the first preachers immediately join- 
ed them together ; took account of their names ; advised 
them to watch over each other ; and met these catechu- 
mens, as they were then called, apart from the great con- 
gregation, that they might instruct, rebuke, exhort, and 
pray with them and for them according to their several 
necessities." 

It may surprise the reader to learn that these meet- 
ings met with opposition from many of the Methodists. 
Some of the older members regarded them not as a pri- 
vilege but a restramt. Wesley replied that he regarded, 
class meetinsfs not as essential, nor of Divine institu- 
tion, but as providential helps which he was sorry they 
had not used from the first. "We are always open to 
instruction," he said, "willing to be wiser every day 
than we were before, and to change whatever we can 
change for the better." But others objected, "There is 
no Scripture for classes." Wesley answered that there 
was no Scripture against them, and that in fact there 
were texts which enjoined upon Christians the substance 
of the thing, leaving the circumstances to be determined 
by reason and experience. The most plausible objection 
was very much the same we now hear. "The thing is 
well enough in itself; but the leaders have neither gifts 
nor graces for such work." Wesley replied — "1. Yet 
such leaders as the}^ are, it is plain God has blessed 
their labor. 2. If any of these is remarkably wanting 
in gifts or grace, he is soon taken notice of and re- 
moved. 3. If you know any such, tell it to me, not to 
others, and I will endeavor to exchange him for a better. 
4. It may be hoped they will all be better than thej^ are, 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 71 

both by experience and observation, and by the advices 
given them by the minister every Tuesday night, and b}'' 
the praj^ers (then in particular) offered up for them." 
The selection of proper leaders was a work of care and 
labor. "As the Society increased," says Wesley, "I 
found it required still greater care to separate the pre- 
cious from the A'ile. In order to this, I determined, at 
least once in every three months, to talk with every 
member m3^self, and to inquire at their own mouths, 
whether they grew in grace and in the knowledge of our 
Lord Jesus Christ. At these seasons, I likewise particu- 
larl}^ inquire whether there be any mis\inderstanding or 
difference among them ; that every hindrance of peace 
and brotherly love ma}' be taken out of the way." The 
class meetings were a source of great power to Method- 
ism. The leaders watched over their classes with con- 
stant vigilance ; the members watched over one another, 
and all strove to grow up in the knowledge and love of 
God. Man}^ of the greatest and best men of the Meth- 
odist Church in England and America were trained in 
the class room ; and it has been remarked that the So- 
cieties in which class meetings have been kept up have 
had a spiritual life more peaceful, joyous, and fruitful, 
than that of those who have failed to use this means of 
grace. 

One of the most zealous lay preachers of Methodism 
was John Nelson, whom we have already named as one 
of the converts at London. Returnins; to his home in 
f Yorkshire, he began to preach among his wicked coun- 
trjnnen ; and had the joy of seeing man}^ of the worst 
classes converted. Wesley went to the aid of his faith- 
ful co-laborer. On reaching Blrstal, the place where 
Nelson lived, he stopped at an inn and sent for Nelson 
to come to him. Wesley went with him to his humble 



72 A inSTORY OY IMETIIODISM 

cottage, and was as much at his ease in the midst of 
poverty as he had been in the fine mansion of Lady 
Hunting-don. from wliich he came to the home of John 
Nelson. Wesley preached at Birstal, and had a convert 
whose name is worthy of record among the heroes of 
Methodism. Nathaniel Harris felt the word Wesley 
brought to be from God. He embraced the faith in the 
face of brutal persecution, and was steadfast through a 
life of eighty years. His father turned him out of his 
house, his brother horsewhipped him, the mob hurled 
stones at him, and his blood was spattered on some of 
his persecutors. But he held fast his faith to the end of 
life ; he was a joyful Methodist, and one of his sa3dngs 
was, " My soul is alwaj^s on the wing, I only wait the 
summons." 

From Birstal Wesley went to Newcastle on- T3me. 
This place became famous as one of the strongholds of 
Methodism in the North of England. But now on the 
first visit of AVesley it was most unpromising. On reach- 
ing the town, he walked out after tea, and was shocked 
at the open sinfulness of the people. . They were drink- 
ing and swearing, and among them were little chil- 
dren whose mouths were full of curses and bad words. 
On Sunday Wesley took his stand near a pump in one 
of the worst parts of the town, and he and John Tajdor 
began the service by singing the old hundredth psalm 
and tune. A few persons soon came out to see what was 
the matter ; then came others, and others still, until 
Wesley had a crowd of more than a thousand hearers. 
"When the sermon was ended, the people stood gaping at 
him in great astonishment. Wesley said to them: "If 
you desire to know who I am, my name is John Wesley. 
At five in the evening, with God's help, I design to 
preach here again." Many of those who heard his first 



FOK OUR YOUNG TEOrLE. 73 

sermon were sailors, and were used, sa3^s one, to "the 
language of hell, as though they had received a liberal 
education in the regions of woe." The text from which 
Wesley preached to these poor outcasts was, "He was 
wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our 
iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, 
and with His stripes we are healed." 

The next day at 5 o'clock in the evening Wesley took 
his stand on the slope of a hill in the town and preached 
agaiuNto many thousands. "After preaching," he says, 
" the poor people were ready to tread me under foot, out 
of pure love and kindness." He went next day eighty 
miles to Birstal, where, in the midst of a vast multitude, 
he conducted religious services for two hours and a half. 

6 



74 A niSTor.Y of jMetiiodism 



CHAPTER VII. 

A FEW DAYS after the incidents related in the last 
chapter, we find Wesley again at Epworth. He put up 
at the inn where an old servant of his father's family and 
two or three poor women met him. 

The next day was Sunday, and he sent word to the 
curate, offering to assist him in the service, either by 
preaching or reading prayers. The curate declined his 
offer, and showed his rudeness by preaching a sermon 
against enthusiasts, with special reference to the Metho- 
dists. As the people were coming out of church, John 
Taylor gave notice that Mr. John Wesley, not being al- 
lowed to preach in the church, would preach in the church 
yard at 6 o'clock. At that hour Wesley appeared, and 
taking his stand on the tombstone of his father, preached 
to the largest crowd ever assembled at Epv/orth. The 
scene was deeply solemn. The living son preaching 
above the dust of his dead father, because the bigoted 
parish priest would not allow him the use of his dead 
father's church! "I am well assured," says Wesley, 
" that I did far more good to my Lincolnshire parishion- 
ers by preaching three days on my father's tomb, than I 
did by preaching three years in his pulpit." 

But he preached more than three sermons from this 
strange pulpit. Eight days he staid at Epworth, and 
every night the tombstone was his pulpit, while around 
thousands stood silent and awe-struck. 

He preached at many other towns in this region. At 
Belton the little Society had felt the heavy hand of per- 
secution. Some of the leaders of the mob took a whole 



FOn OUR YOUNG TEOPLE. 7a 

waofon-loacl of Methodists to the masristrate. He asked 
what they had done. For some time there was silence. 
At length one said, "They pretend to be better than 
other people, and pray from morning till night ;" another 
said, " The}^ have convarted my wife. Till she went 
among them, she had such a tongue ! and now she is as 
quiet as a lamb !" "Take them back, take them back," 
said the justice, "and let them convert all the scolds in 
the town." 

The sermons of Wesley from his father's tomb were 
attended with amazing power. The people wept aloud. 
Some fell down suddenly as if dead. Often the preach- 
ers voice was drowned by the cries of penitents. One 
man, who had not heard a sermon for thirty j^ears, stood 
like a statue. "' Sir," said Wesle}^ to him, " are you a 
sinner?" " Sinner enough !" said the poor man, staring 
upwards, till his wife and servant, both weeping, put 
him into his carriage and took him home. 

AYhile Wesley was preaching at Epworth, where his 
father labored and struggled for nearl}^ forty years, his 
honored mother, who had reared there a noble famil}^ of 
children, was nearing the gates of death. Hearing of 
her sickness, he came at once to London. Her five 
daughters were with her. Wesley says, "I found my 
mother on the borders of eternitj^ ; but she had no doubt 
or fear ; nor any desire but to depart and to be with 
Christ." She died of an attack of gout on Friday, July 
23, 1742. Awaking early in the morning, she said, "My 
dear SaAiour ! Art Thou come to help me at my last 
extremity?" In the afternoon, when service was over at 
the Founder}^ Wesley came in and found her cold and 
almost pulseless. Just before she lost the power of 
speech, she said: "Children, as soon as I am released, 
sing a hymn of praise to God." 



76 A HISTORY OF METHODISM 

This holy woman was buried August 1st in Bunhill- 
fields. A great nuiltitude was present. Wesle}^ con- 
ducted the funeral services, and then preached from the 
words: '"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand 
before God ; and the books were opened ; and another 
book was opened which is the book of life ; and the dead 
were judged ont of those things which were written in 
the books, according to their works. And the sea gave 
up the dead which were in it ; and death and hell deliv- 
ered np the dead which were in them ; and they were 
judged ever}'- man according to their works." "It was," 
says Wesley, "one of the most solemn assemblies I ever 
saw, or expect to see this side eternity." 

The power that now began to attend the preaching of 
the AVesle3''S, and particularly of John, was truly wonder- 
ful. It was not an unusual thing for persons to fall un- 
der his preaching as if they had been shot dead ; and 
even the gentry, as they were called, were often so 
soundly convicted of sin as to cry aloud for pardon 
and peace. Weslc}'' went north to Newcastle and found 
that since he first preached near the town-pump the word 
of God had greatly multiplied. In eight months eight 
hundred had joined the Society. It was decided to have 
a chapel ; a site was bought and the corner-stone laid 
amidst the rejoicings of the people. Wesley was com- 
pelled to stop several times during his sermon that the 
people might offer prayer and thanksgiving to God for 
his goodness. The building was to cost |3,500 — Wesley 
had just five dollars of this sum when the foundation- 
stone was laid. Man}^ said it could never be finished. 
But Weslej^ was of another mind. As the house was 
begun for God's sake, he believed "He would provide 
what was needful for the finishing it." 

This was the largest meeting house in England, and 




Tomb of Mrs. Wesley. 



Face page 76. 



FOR OUTv YOUNG PEOPLE. 77 

it became famous as a center of Methodist influence. 
Here one of the earliest Sunday Schools was established, 
in which a thousand children were taught the way of 
life. Here a Bible Society was formed before the British 
and Foreign Bible Society had an existence. Here they 
had one of the best choirs in England, and among these 
Methodist singers were two young men that afterward 
became the English Lords Eldon and Stowell. Here in 
this great chapel colliers and boatmen from the country 
around would gather, and after the evening service sleep 
on the benches until they were aroused at 5 o'clock the 
next morning to hear Wesley preach. This was the head 
quarters of Methodism in the north of England. 

Three months after the house was begun, and while it 
was yet incomplete, and in the severe month of March, 
Wesley opened it with a sermon on the parable of the 
rich man and Lazarus. He also held a watch night 
"amid bricks, mortar, and a builder's usual debris, the 
light of a full moon probably being the only illumination 
the damp, cold, unfinished building had, and equinoctial 
gales and winter winds wafting the hymns of these happy 
Methodists to a higher and holier world than this. Truly 
the cradle in which Methodism w^as rocked by the hand 
of Providence was often rough." 

While Methodism was planting churches on earth, 
souls were going joyfully from her earthly courts to the 
company of the saints in heaven. One holy woman died 
crj'ing out, "It is done, it Ls done ! Christ lives in me." 
Another bade her friends farewell, saying, "I fear not 
death ; it hath no sting for me. I shall live forever- 
more." A little boy of thirteen threw his arms wide 
open and died saying, "Come, come, Lord Jesus ! I am 
Thine." 

Of course where there was so much fine 2;old there was 



78 A HISTORY OF I\l I-riMlODISM 

some dross. Some members oT the Soeieties showed 
signs of fanaticism. AVesIey rebuked them, and de- 
iiouneetl tlieir follies. Two men came to him in London 
callhii!; themselves prophets, and sayiniv "that they Avere 
scut from God to say that he wouhl sliortly be boDul 
a<2,"aiii ; and that, unless he turned tiunn out, they would 
stay in the house till it was done." AVesley knew well 
how to deal with such eases. lie told them he would not 
turn them out, and took them down staii's into the room 
of the Society. Here he left them. "It was tolerably 
cold," he s.nys, with rather severe humor, "and they had 
neither meat nor drink. However, they sat from niorn- 
injx ti) evenino-, -when they (juietly went away, and 1 have 
board nothino- more IVom them since." 

The uiob violence aii'ainst the IMethodists continued 
with increasino; furionsness. AVhile AV'esley was in-cach- 
ing in the neii^hborhood of White ('hapel, a volley ot 
stones was thrown at him, one of which struck him be- 
tween the eyes, drawin;:: the blood ; he (|uiet.ly wiped the 
blood from his face and went on with his sermon. At 
(^ardilT, while Charles Wesley was preaching', the women 
were kicked ; rockets were thrown into the room, settinj^ 
lire to the clothino; of the people ; the desk in which the 
preacher stood was broken to pieces, and the Bible 
wrested ironi his hands. Que of the mob declared " that 
if he went strai<;ht to hell for doino; it, he would perse- 
cute tlie MethotUsts to his dyinii; day." 

The Wesleys were fond of sino-inj:;, and were both fine 
poets. They freely circulated hyums auioui;- their Socie- 
ties, with proper tunes to be used in social and [)ublic 
worship, and the JMethodists be^'anie a sinixino- people. 
IMore than six thousand hymns were put in circulation 
durino* Wesley's lifetime, and most of them were from 
the hcart^ and pen of his brother C^liarles. The direc- 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOrLE. 79 

tions given to his preachers show how highly he prized 
good, hearty, lively singing, not b}'' a select few in a choir 
loft, but by the whole congregation of worshippers. He 
said : " Suit the tune to the words. Avoid complex, 
tunes, which it is scarcely possible to sing with devotion. 
Repeating the same words so often, [a very fashionable 
st3^1e now,] especiall}^ while another repeats different 
words, shocks all common sense, necessarily brings in 
dead formality, and has no more religion in it than a 
Lancashire hornpipe. Sing no anthems. Do not suffer 
the people to sing too slow. In every Societ}^ let them 
learn to sing ; and let them alwa3's learn our own tunes 
first. Let the women constantly sing their part alone. 
Let no man sing with them, unless he understands the 
notes, and sings the bass as it is pricked down in the 
book. Litroduce no new tunes till the}^ are perfect in 
the old. Let no organ be placed anj^where, till proposed 
in the Conference. Recommend our tune-book every- 
where ; and if 3'ou cannot sing yourself, choose a person 
or two m each place to pitch the tune for you. Exhort 
every one in the congregation to sing, not one in ten 
od13\" Such were Weslej^'s rules for this part of divine 
worship, and under them the singing of Methodism was 
a power next to preaching, praying and holy living. 

AVe cannot do better than to quote the sensible and 
timeh' words of Mr. Tyerman on this point, and com- 
mend them to the earnest consideration of our preachers 
and people. 

"Well would it be if Methodist ministers were to en- 
force such rules as these instead of leavins; the most 
beautiful part of public worship, as is too often done, to 
the irreligious whims and criminal caprice of organists 
and choirs. No one can doubt the fact that, within the 
last fort}' years, the singing in Methodist chapels has 



80 A HISTOEY OF ]\IETIIODISM 

deteriorated to an extent which ought to be alarming. 
[Is not this true of America as well as of England?] 
The tunes now too generally sung are intolerably in- 
sipid ; and, as to any sympathy between them and the 
inspiriting hymns of Charles Wesley, it would be pre- 
posterous to say that a particle of such sympathy exists. 
Such singing may suit the classic taste of fashionable 
cono-reo-ations assembled amid the chillins: influences of 
gothic decorations ; but it bears no resemblance what- 
ever to the general outbursts of heartfelt praise, adora- 
tion, and thanksgiving, which characterized the old Me- 
thodists. It is high time for Methodist preachers to 
keep John Wesley's rules respecting singing ; to substi- 
tute John Wesley's tunes and others like them for the 
soulless sounds now called classic music ; and to feel 
that, before God and man, they are as much responsible 
for the singing in sanctuaries as they are for that part of 
public worship which consists of prayer." 

The vigilance of Wesley in guarding the purity of his 
Societies was one secret of his wonderful success. On 
one of his visits to Newcastle, he found the Society in- 
jured in its life and influence by unworthy members. 
Sixty -four were expelled. Among other offences, we find 
that one was expelled for laziness, and twentj^-nine for 
lightness and carelessness. In a few months after it was 
formed, he had purged this famous Society of one hun- 
dred and forty members. Wesley required that all who 
joined his Societies sliould live up to the rules or go out 
of them. By his rigid discipline he reduced the num- 
bers in many places, but he increased the life and moral 
power of those who were faithftd. 

We have already seen that Wesley had been refused 
the use of his father's pulpit at Ep worth ; he was to suf- 
fer a still greater indignity at the hands of the notorious 



FOR OUR YOUNG TEOPLE. 81 

curate, Mr. Romley. On one of his wide circuits he 
came to Ep worth, and again took his father's tombstone 
for his pulpit. It was sacramental Sunda}^ and some of 
the people asked permission of the curate to receive the 
holy communion. The proud man replied: "Tell Mr. 
Wesley I shall not give him the sacrament ; for he is 
not juy Wesley saj-s of this act : "How wise a God is 
our God ! There could not have been so fit a place un- 
der heaven, where this should befall me first, as my fa- 
ther's house, the place of my nativity, and the very 
place where, 'according to the straitest sect of our 
religion,' I had so long 'lived a Pharisee.' It was also 
fit, in the highest degree, that he who repelled me from 
that very table where I had myself so often distributed 
the bread of life, should be one who owed his all in this 
world to the tender love which my father had shown to 
his, as well as personally to himself." 

Perhaps the most violent treatment ever met with by 
ministers of Christ in modern times was endured by tiie 
AYesleys and their fellow laborers in Staffordshire. John 
Wesley said of the furious violence of the mobs : " I was 
not surprised at all ; neither should I have wondered if, 
after the advices they had so often received from the 
pulpit, as well as from the episcopal chair, the zealous 
churchmen had rose and cut all that were Methodists to 
pieces." 

Wesley at once set out for the scene of violence, and 
in a few days was in the YQvy midst of the maddened, 
howling, cursing mobs. At Wednesbury he met a crowd 
as furious as lions. At noon he preached without dis- 
turbance, but in the afternoon, as he sat writing in the 
house of Francis Ward, the mob rushed to the house 
crying, "Bring out the minister, we will have the minis- 
ter !" Wesley was calm and asked that some of the 



82 A inSTORY OF ISrETIIODISM 

most furious should come into his room. Tliree men en- 
tered, and, after talking to them a few moments, they 
became perfectly quiet. With these men before him to 
clear his way, Wesley went out and took his stand in the 
midst of the surging mass. He asked them what they 
wanted with him. They said, "We want you to goto 
the justice." Wesley said, "That I will with all my 
heart." The crowd moved off with him, and soon came 
to the house of the ma,gistrate two miles distant. Some 
ran ahead to tell the officer that the mob was bringing 
Wesley. He replied, "What have I to do with Wesley? 
Take him back again." Soon the crowd with Wesley in 
the midst came up and began knocking at the door. The 
justice refused to see them, but sent his son to ask their 
business. One of the leaders answered, " To be plain, 
sir, if I must speak the truth, all the fault I find with him 
is, that he preaches better than our parsons." Another 
man said, " Sir, it is a downright shame ; he makes peo- 
ple rise at five in the morning to sing psalms. What 
advice would your worship give us?" "Go home," said 
the young man, " and be quiet." Failing here, they hur- 
ried Wesley away to another magistrate. It was now 
late in the evening, and the second officer refused to see 
them. They had now to go back again, and while about 
fifty were conveying Wesley to his lodgings they were 
overtaken by a mob from Walsal, who pelted the escort 
till nearly every one ran ofi" leaving Wesley in the hands 
of the ruffians. Some caught him by the collar and tried 
to pull him down ; a big fellow behind him struck him 
several blows with a c^ub. Another rushed through the 
crowd to help his cruel mate and lifted his arm to strike, 
but suddenly let it drop, and, stroking Wesle3^'s head, 
said, "¥/hat soft hair he has!" One man hit him on 
the breast, another on the mouth so liard that the blood 



FOR OUR YOUNG TEOrLE. 83 

gushed out. He was dragged to Walsal, and seeing the 
door of a large house open, he attempted to enter it, but 
was seized by the hair and dragged backward. The mob 
then paraded through the streets with him. At length, 
when they halted a moment, Wesley asked, "Are you 
willing to hear me speak?" They cried, "No, no ! knock, 
out his brains ; down with him ; kill him at once !" "Wes- 
ley said, "What evil have I done? Which of you all 
have I wronged in word or deed?" To this they only 
shouted, " Bring him away, bring him away !" Wesle}^ 
now began to pra}^ While thus engaged a man who had 
headed the mob just before, turned and said to him, "Sir, 
I will spend my life for you : follow me, and no one shall 
hurt a hair of your head." Two or three others joined 
him, and one of them, a noted prize-fighter, took Wesley 
up and carried him safel}^ through the crowd. Of this 
scene Wesley wrote : " A little before ten o'clock God 
brought me safe to Wednesbury ; having lost only one 
flap of my waistcoat, and a little skin from one of my 
hands. From^ the beginning to the end I found the same 
presence of mind as if I had been sitting in my own 
stud}^ But I took no thought for one moment before 
another ; only once it came into my mind that, if they 
should throw me into the river, it would spoil the papers 
that were in my pocket. For myself, I did not doubt 
but I should swim across, having but a thin coat and a 
light pair of boots." 

Five days after this rough handling of John, Charles 
Wesle}^ came into the midst of the lions. He found the 
Methodists steadfast in the faith in the face of their 
enemies. He sa3^s, "We sung praises lustily and with a 
good courage ; and could all set our seal to the truth of 
our Lord's sajmig, "Blessed are they that are persecuted 
for righteousness' sake." The leader of the mob ao-ninst 



84 A mSTORY OF ]METnODISir 

John Wesley was so struck with his meek behavior and 
Christian spirit, that when Charles came to his town he 
forsook his bad associates and came forward and joined 
the people whom he had persecuted. 

"What did you think of my brother?" said Charles to 
him. "I think of him !" said he, "I thought he is a man 
of G-od ; and God was on his side, when so many of us 
could not kill one man." 

This person, whose name was George Clifton, lived 
to a great age, and was never tired of telling how 
God held back his hand when he wanted to kill Wes- 
ley. 

The fury of the mobs against the Methodists did not 
abate when the Wesley s left the scene to preach the gos- 
pel in other places. The houses of the Methodists were 
boldly entered by ruffians armed with clubs, axes and 
swords. Furniture was broken up, feather beds ripped 
open and the contents scattered over the rooms and in 
the yards. Bibles were chopped to pieces, and those who 
owned them beaten in the most cruel manner. The Me- 
thodists made application for protection to three differ- 
ent magistrates, but without obtaining protection or re- 
dress. But though man failed them, God did not. "We 
keep meeting together morning and evening," they wrote, 
" are in great peace and love with each other, and are 
nothing terrified by our adversaries. God grant we may 
endure to the end." 

Cornwall was a part of England in which the Method- 
ists did a great work, and where at the first they met 
with mob violence equal to that already noticed. The 
people were sunk in ignorance and vice, and it was 
among such that Methodism gained her brightest jewels. 
When the Wesleys first went to this region, there was 
one village in which it is said there was not a single copy 



FOR our. YOUNG PEOPLE. 85 

of the Bible, and but one copy of the Book of Common 
Prayer, which was kept at the tavern. 

On one occasion, when a great storm made the people 
fear the day of judgment had come, many of them rush- 
ed to the tavern to get the bar-keeper to read them a 
prayer. Tom, the bar-keeper, snatched up a book and 
began to read about storms and wi'ecks and the terrors of 
the ocean, when his mistress called out, "Tom, that is 
not the Prayer-Book; it is Robin Crusoe!" "aSTo," 
he replied, '• it is the Prayer-Book ;" and on he went 
reading as fast as he could until he came to a passage 
about man Frida}^, when his mistress again screamed out 
to him that he was reading Robin Crusoe. "Well," said 
Tom, "what if I am, there are as good prayers in Robin 
Crusoe as in an^^- other book ;" and so he went on till the 
storm abated and the frightened people went home. 

At St. Ives, the parson of the church set an example 
to the mobs by preaching a sermon against the Metho- 
dists, in which he called them "seducers, troublers, 
scribes, pharisees and hj'-pocrites." 

Charles Wesley went to church, and heard a parson 
deliver such " a hotch-potch of railing and foolish lies as 
might have made the devil blush." Charles told the 
preacher he had been misinformed. His reverence re- 
plied, "You are a liar," and walked away. The next 
day Charles went to the market-house and began to sing. 
The mob gathered and began to beat a-drum and shout. 
A few days after, as he began to preach, a band of ruffi- 
ans rushed upon the people and threatened to kill them. 
The windows, shutters and benches were broken. They 
swore that Wesley should not preach there and raised 
their clubs to strike him. The women were beaten and 
dragged about the room and trod upon b}^ the brutal 
wretches. They at last fell to fighting each other and 



8Q A HISTORY OF ]METIIODISM 

then left the room. On another preaching daj^ the mob 
rushed into the room throwing dirt, stones and rotten 
eggs, and swearing they wonld pull the house to pieces. 
Such were the scenes in the midst of which Methodism 
was introduced into Cornwall. 

tTohn Wesley came with John Nelson to aid in the work 
which Charles had begun. ' They had a hard time and 
endured severe trials. Nelson worked at his trade as a 
stone mason and preached whenever he could gather a 
congregation. Wesley and Nelson often had to sleep on 
the bare floor ; one night, when they had had no other 
bed for two weeks, Wesley' turned over, and slapping- 
Nelson on the side, said, '-Brother Nelson, let us be of 
good cheer, for the skin is off but one side j^et." They 
preached constanth', but very few persons asked them 
to eat a morsel of food. One day as they were riding 
along after preaching, Wesley stopped his horse to pick 
blackberries, and said, "Brother Nelson, we ought to be 
thankful there are plenty of blackberries : for this is the 
best countr}' I ever saw for getting an appetite, but the 
worst for getting food/' 



FOR OUn YOUNG PEOPLE. 87 



CHAPTER viir. 

TiiE Wesleys were not merely zealous preachers, they 
were also faithful pastors. In visiting the members in 
the London Societies, the two spent twelve hours a day 
until tliey had seen every member and learned his spirit- 
ual condition. So important did they regard such work 
that John said : " I cannot understand how any minister 
can hope ever to give up his account with joy unless (as 
Ignatius advises) he knows all his flock by name ; not 
overlooking the men servants and maid servants." The 
number of members in London had gone above two 
thousand, and the Foundery was filled to overflowing. 
Two or three other preaching places were offered to 
Wesley, which he gladly accepted. One of these was in 
Southwark, a very wicked part of London, and a zealous 
woman, on hearing that Wesley was going to preach 
there, said, " What ! will Mr. Wesley preach at Snow- 
fields? Surely not ! There is not such another place in 
London. The people there are not men, but devils !" 
This was just one of the reasons that made Wesley go 
tlicre, and he opened the chapel with a sermon from the 
words, "Jesus said, They that are whole need not a 
physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the 
rigliteous, but sinners to repentance." 

Visiting poor and sick persons Wesley looked upon as 
a great Clu-istian duty. He did not think he had done 
his work when he had sent them help ; he must go and 
see them in the spirit of the Saviour. Whoever neg- 
lected to visit the poor he thought lost a valuable means 



88 A HISTORY OF IMETIIODISM 

of grace. " One great reason," he says, " why the rich 
have SO little sympathy for the poor, is, because they so 
seldom visit them;" and he adds, "All who desire to 
escape the everlasting fire, and to inherit the everlasting 
kingdom, are equally concerned according to their power 
to practice this important duty." To this blessed work I 
he adhered as long as he lived and personally did a vast 
amount of it ; but it was needful to have helpers in it, 
and such were at first in London the stewards. The 
work of these important and valuable church officers, as 
Wesley laid it out, was to receive the gifts of the people, 
to distribute them, by paying for repairs to the chapels, 
and pajdng other debts and in relieving the helpless sick 
and poor. The rules Wesley gave his stewards were, to 
be frugal, to have no long accounts, to give none that 
asked relief either an ill word or an ill look, and to ex- 
pect not thanks from man. They met every Thursday 
morning at six o'clock, and distribnted all the money 
they had received up to the previous Tuesday night, 
thus closing their accounts within each week. It was 
soon found that the stewards could not attend to all the 
sick and poor, and Wesley called for volunteers for this 
work. Many offered, and out of the number he chose 
forty-six^ who seemed to be of a loving, tender spirit. 
He then divided London into twenty-three districts, and 
in each one of these two visitors were to visit the sick 
three times a week ; inquire into the state of their souls, 
relieve their wants, and present their accounts weekly to 
the stewards. Wesley says of this good work: "Upon 
reflection, I saw how exactly, in this also, we had copied 
after the primitive Church. What were the ancient dea- 
cons? What was Phoebe, the deaconess, but a visitor of 
the sick?" He gave his visitors four very plain and sim- 
ple rules: "Be plain and open in dealing with souls. 



FOR OUR YOUNG TEOPLE. 89 

Be mild, tender, patient. Be cleanly in all j^ou do for 
the sick. Be not nice." 

After five years' experience in this work Wesley wrote, 
"AVe have had great reason to praise God for His con- 
tinued blessing in this undertaking. Many lives have 
been saved, many sicknesses healed, much pain and want 
prevented or removed. Many heavy hearts have been 
made glad, many mourners comforted ; and the visitors 
have found, from Him whom they serve, a present reward 
for all their labor." 

While Wesley was putting into shape his plans for the 
relief of his poor members and others who needed aid, 
the preachers, who went into the towns and villages pro- 
claiming the gospel, were still met and maltreated by mobs 
who not seldom were urged on by churchmen and some- 
times even b^^ ministers of the Established Church. At 
■Sheffield the church ministers so stirred up the mob that 
they were read}" to leap on the Methodists and tear them 
limb from limb. An oflScer of the English army present- 
ed his sword at Charles Wesley's breast, while the meet- 
ing house was pulled down and the windows of a Mr. 
Bennett's house, in wliich Wesley lodged, were smashed 
to pieces. At Hampton the scenes were worse. The 
mob said they would make aprons out of Whitefield's 
gown ; they broke a young woman's arm, threw a man 
into a pond of water, and threatened to cast Whitefield 
into a lime pit. One person was thrown violently into a 
hole full of reptiles and stagnant water, and women were 
seized by the hair and dragged down stairs. The Meth- 
odists were forced to hide themselves for fear of being 
murdered outright. 

In addition to this, the press teemed with the most 
abusive and slanderous attacks on the Wesleys and their 
co-laborers. 

7 



90 A inSTORY OF 3IETII0DISM 

Up to this time Wesley had no written rules for his 
Societies. This year (1743) he drew up a system of 
rules and submitted them to the Societies. They are 
substantially the same as the General Rules now in our 
Book of Discipline. 

Among the tracts which Wesley was constantly send- 
ing forth, he now sent out one called "An Earnest Ap- 
peal to Men of Reason and Religion." It made a sen- 
sation among the enemies of Methodism ; and well it 
might, for Wesley had given it great sharpness and 
power. In this work he describes true religion and 
shows how it is obtained, and then turning upon those 
who say they believe in the gospel, but live contrary to 
it, he shows the folly and sinfulness of such lives. 

He ably defends himself and his brethren from the 
foul charges of various kinds which had been made 
against them. He scouts the charge that he was a 
money-lover, and shows that he was personally in debt 
nearly $4,000 on account of the chapels he had built for 
the benefit of the poor people who had joined his Socie- 
ties. He says he had "thrown up his ease, most of his 
friends, his reputation, and that way of life which of all 
others was most agreeable both to his natural temper 
and education ; he had toiled day and night, spent all 
his time and strength, knowingly destro3^ed a firm con- 
stitution, and was hastening into weakness, pain, dis- 
eases, death, — to gain a debt of four thousand dollars." 
He then says to his brother clergymen of the Establish- 
ed Church : "For what price will you preach eighteen or 
nineteen times every week ; and this throughout the 
year? What shall I give you to travel seven or eight 
hundred miles, in all weathers, every two or three 
months? For what salary will you abstain from all 
other diversions than the doing good, and the .praising 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 91 

God ? I am mistaken if 3'ou would not prefer strangling 
to such a life, even with thousands of gold and silver. I 
will now simply tell joii my sense of these matters, whe- 
ther you will hear or whether j^ou will forbear. Food 
and raiment I have ; such food as I choose to eat, and 
such raiment as I choose to put on ; I have a place 
where to lay my head ; 1 have what is needful for life 
and godliness ; and I apprehend this is all the world can 
afford. The kings of the earth can give me no more. 
For as to gold and silver, I count it dung and dross. I 
trample it under m}^ feet. I esteem it just as the mire 
of the streets. I desire it not. I seek it not. I only 
fear lest any of it should cleave to me, and I should not 
be able to shake it off before my spirit returns to God. 
I will take care (God being my helper) that none of the 
accursed thing shall be found in my tents when the Lord 
calleth me hence. Hear ye this, all joi\ who have dis- 
covered the treasures which I am to leave behind me ; if 
I leave behind me ten pounds — above my debts and my 
books, or what may happen to be due on account of 
them, — 3^ou and all mankind may bear witness against 
me, that I lived and died a thief and a robber." 

vSuch were the noble words in which Wesley rebuked 
those who charged him with a desire to make gain by 
means of the gospel he preached. He kept his word ; 
for, shortl}'' before his death he said he had kept his ac- 
counts accurately for many years, but should attempt it 
no longer, as he was satisfied with the continual convic- 
tion " that he saved all he could and gave all he could, 
that is all he had." 

In 1744 Wesley had his first Conference. It began on 
Jane 25, and was held for five days. The persons pres- 
ent were John and Charles Wesley, John Hodges, Henry 
Piers, Samuel Tajdor, and John Meriton. Four of Wes- 



92 A HISTORY OF ilETIIODISM 

ley's lay preachers attended — Thomas Richards, Thomas 
Maxfield, John Bennet, and John Downes. Of these 
four, the only one who lived and died a Methodist was 
Downes ; the others broke off from Wesley and joined 
other Churches. The day before the Conference opened 
they had preaching, a lovefeast, and a sacramental ser- 
vice, at which nearly three thousand persons communed j 
The Conference opened the next day with a sermon from 
Charles Wesley, followed by the baptism of a person who 
liad been converted during the services. Three points 
were taken up and considered : 1. What to teach. 2. 
How to teach. 3. How to regulate doctrine, discipline, 
and practice. 

In doctrine it was settled, that to be justified is to be 
pardoned and taken into God's favor, that faith, pre- 
ceded by repentance, is the condition of justification, 
that this faith that justifies is a conviction, by the Holy 
Ghost, that Christ loved me, and gave himself for me ; 
that no man can be justified and not know it ; that the 
immediate fruits of justifying faith are peace, joy, love, 
power over all outward sin, and power to keep down in- 
ward sin ; that wilful sin is inconsistent with justifying 
faith ; that no believer need ever again come into con- 
demnation ; that works are necessary for the continuance 
of faith, which cannot be lost but for want of them ; and 
that St. Paul and St. James do not contradict each other 
when one says Abraham was not justified by works, and 
the other that he was, because they do not speak of the 
same .justification, and because they do not speak of the 
same works, — St. Paul speaking of works that precede 
faith, and St. James of works that spring from it. 

In reference to Adam's sin it was agreed that it is im- 
puted to all mankind in the sense, that in consequence of 
such sin ; 1, our bodies are mortal ; 2, our souls disunited 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 93 

from God, and of a sinful, devilish nature ; and 3, wo 
are liable to death eternal. It was also agreed that the 
Bible never affirms that God imputes the righteousness 
of Christ to any, but rather, that faith is imputed to us 
for righteousness. The Conference concluded that by 
the merits of Christ all men are cleared from the guilt of 
Adam's actual sin ; that their bodies will become immor- 
tal after the resurrection ; that their souls receive a ca- 
pacity of spiritual life, and an actual spark or seed 
thereof, and that all believers are reconciled to God and 
made partakers of the Divine nature. 

The Conference defined sanctification to be, a renewal 
in the image of God, in righteousness and true holiness ; 
to be a perfect Christian is to love the Lord our God with 
all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, implying the de- 
struction of all inward sin; and faith is the condition 
and instrument by which such a state of grace is ob- 
tained. 

While the Conference agreed to obey the Bishops of 
the Church of England in things indifferent, and to obey 
the canons as far as they could with a safe conscience, 
and, if possible, to prevent a schism in the Church, yet 
they solemnly agreed that they must not neglect to save 
souls for fear of consequences that might happen after 
they were dead. They expressed the belief that God's 
design in raising up the Methodists was to reform the 
nation, and particularly the Church of England, and to 
spread scriptural holiness through the land. 

They agreed that wherever they preached they must 
form Societies, because if they did not the preachers 
could not watch over those who were convinced of sin, 
and could not lead them to Christ ; and that the people 
could not watch over one another in love and build each 
other up in faith and holiness. 



94 A HISTOKY OF JMETHODISM 

The Conference agreed that lay assistants were allow- 
able only in cases of necessity, but the necessity was so 
urgent that it was not safe to dispense with them. The 
work for the preachers was clearly pointed out. They 
were to preach morning and evening, to meet the mem- 
bers of all grades once a week, and the classes once a 
quarter, to hear and decide all differences, to put the dis- 
orderly back on trial, and to receive on trial ; to see that 
the leaders, stewards, teachers and housekeepers attend- 
ed faithfully to their duties ; to meet the leaders and 
Btewards weekly and to examine their accounts. It was 
deeply impressed upon the minds of the preachers to be 
serious, to talk cautiously and sparingly with women, 
to take no step towards marriage without consulting 
Wesley or some of his brother clergymen. They were 
not to play the gentleman, and what Wesley meant by 
this we may understand when he tells them they had no 
more to do with this character than with that of a danc- 
ing master. They were to be Christian gentlemen, but 
not the fashionable thing that had usurped that title in 
Wesley's day. They were taught to be ashamed of no- 
thing but sin, not of fetching water or wood, nor of 
cleaning their own shoes, nor their neighbors'. They 
were to take no money of any one, were to make no 
debts without Wesley's knowledge, not to mend his rules 
but to keep them, and to employ their time in the way 
he directed, and they were to keep journals for his satis- 
faction and their own profit. They were to preach most 
where they could get the greatest number of quiet and 
willing hearers. Field preaching was to be used more 
freely as a means of bringing the masses to hear the 
word of God. To improve the class meetings and make 
them more lively and valuable, each leader was to be ex- 
amined as to Iiis method of leadins: class, and all the 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 95 

leaders were to talk with the preachers as often as possi- 
ble on the subject. Pains were to be taken by pastoral 
visiting to learn whether all the members were striving 
to lead holy lives. 

Wesley kept the good of the young always before 
him. His preachers were to meet the children in every 
place, and give them suitable exhortations. Our readers 
must indulge us just here in an episode which shows 
Wesley's love for children and the impression he made 
upon the minds of 3"0ung people by his peculiarly tender 
and affectionate manner. The incident is perfectly au- 
thentic, having been recently related to us by a minister 
who had it from the lips of one of the parties concerned. 
The o-entleman who slave the incident was born in Ire- 
land, and came to this country after reaching mature 
years. When he was a small lad it was announced in 
his neighborhood that Mr. Wesley was to preach on a 
certain day at five in the morning. Being extremely 
anxious to see Wesle}^ he with two or three other lads 
went out very earl}'- to the roadside and waited for Wes- 
ley to come along. After waiting for some time they 
saw a person approaching, and when he came near they 
concluded that he must be Wesley. When he rode up 
the boys raised their hats and said, " Good morning, Mr. 
Wesley." The traveller stopped his horse, and said, 
"Children, why are you here so early in the morning?" 
They replied, "We came out to see you, Mr. Wesley." 
At this, Wesley, for it was he, dismounted from his 
horse, took from his portmanteau a package of tracts, 
gave one to each boy, and then placing his hand upon 
the head of each pronounced a blessing. The gentleman 
was nearl}^ eighty years old when he told this incident 
to the minister, and though so many years had passed, 
he said it seemed to him that he had ever since felt 



96 A mSTOEY OF IMETHODISM 

the gentle pressure of that hand upon his head. 
Wesley instructed his preachers to preach earnestly 
against the sins of the times, such as Sabbath breaking, 
dram drinking, evil speaking, uncharitable conversation, 
lightness, gaiety or richness of apparel, and the going in 
debt without a prospect of paying. They were to rise 
at four o'clock, as often as they could, io spend two or 
three minutes every hour in earnest prayer ; to have an 
hour for secret prayer every morning and evening ; he 
advised them not to spend more than an hour at a time 
in general conversation, and to use all the means of 
grace. They were urged to speak freely with each other 
whenever they might meet, and never to part without 
prayer. In reference to preaching, they were advised 
never to preach more than twice a day, unless on Sun- 
days, or extraordinary occasions ; to begin and end the 
service exactly at the time appointed ; to suit their sub- 
jects to their congregations, to choose very plain texts, 
and not to ramble from them. They were to avoid eve- 
rything awkward in language, gesture, or pronunciation ; 
to sing no hj^mns of their own composing, to choose suit- 
able hymns and not to sing more than five or six verses, 
and always to suit the tune to the hymn. 

The Conference spent six days in its important work. 
Little did those ten men think they were making a plat- 
form for all succeeding Annual Conferences of Method- 
ism for all coming time — the centres of a system which 
has spread its influences through the world. 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 07 



CHAPTER IX. 

Soon after the close of the Conference Wesley 
preached his last sermon at the Universit}^ of Oxford. 
The duty came to him in regular rotation, and if he de- 
clined he must pay fifteen dollars. He concluded to 
preach and not to pa}", and he did so with a plainness 
and a force that astonished all and offended many of his 
hearers. The sermon was based upon Acts iv : 31, "And 
when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they 
were assembled together ; and they were all filled with 
the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with 
boldness." Wesle}^ said of it, "I preached, I suppose, 
for the last time, at St. Mary's. Be it so. I am now 
clear of the blood of these men. I have fully delivered 
my own soul." The famous Dr. Kennicott, who was at 
this time an undergraduate of Wadham College, thus 
describes Wesley : "He is neither tall nor fat; for the 
latter would ill become a Methodist. His black hair, 
quite smooth, and parted very exactly, added to a pecii- 
liar composure in his countenance, showed him to be an 
uncommon man. His prayer was soft, short and con- 
formable to the rules of the University. He spoke his 
text very slowly, and with an agreeable emphasis." This 
critic says further of the sermon, "When he came to 
what he called his plain, practical conclusion, he fired 
his address with so much zeal and unbounded satire as 
quite spoiled what otherwise might have turned to great 
advantage ; for as I liked some, so I disliked other parts 
of his discourse extremely. * * * He is allowed to 



98 A HISTORY OF jSIETHODISjI 

be a man of great parts, and that by the excellent Dean 
of Christ's Church (Dr. Conybeare) ; for the day he 
preached, the dean generously said of him, ' John Wes- 
ley will always be thought a man of sound sense, though 
an enthusiast.' However, the vice-chancellor sent for 
the sermon, and I hear the heads of colleges intend to 
show their resentment." The earnest, practical conclu- 
sion of this sermon was simply the application of the 
truth of God's word to the conscience of his hearers, 
and this John Wesley did in as plain language in the 
chapel at Oxford as he would have used had he been 
preaching to Kingswood colliers. 

The opposition to the gospel as preached by the Me- 
thodists continued, and in some quarters increased in 
violence. The houses in which the Methodists often 
preached were of the most wretched description. Wes- 
ley was invited to occupy v/hat was called a church. 
"• Such a church," says he, " I never saw before. 
There was not a glass window belonging to it ; but only 
boards, with holes bored here and there, through which 
a dim light glimmered. Yet even here the light of God's 
countenance shone on many hearts." In one of these 
miserable houses Charles Wesley was preaching against 
harmless diversions as they are called. There were 
three clergymen present, Messrs. Meriton, Thompson, 
aud Bennett. " B}^ harmless diversions," said Charles, 
"I was kept asleep in the devil's arms, secure in a state 
of damnation, for eighteen years." As soon as Wesley 
finished this sentence, Meriton cried out, "And I for 
twenty-five !" " And I," said Thompson, '^ for thirty- 
five !" " And I," said Bennett, " and I for above 
seventy !" 

The press gangs that roamed over the country collect- 
ing men for the army took a special deliglit in pressing 



rorw ouTw YorxG people. 99 

the Methodists into the military service. At one town 
where John Wesle}^ was about to preach, some of his 
friends told him the mob was waiting for him and in- 
tended to press all the men for soldiers. Wesley only 
replied, '•' Our only way is to make the best of it while 
standing ;" he went in and preached with his usual calm- 
ness and zeal. John Nelson and Thomas Beard had 
been pressed into the service. Yf esley met them at an 
inn and said, " Brother Nelson, lose no time, speak and 
spare not, for God has work for joii to do in every place 
where your lot is cast; and when you have fuhilled His 
good pleasure, He will burst 3'our bonds asunder, and 
we shall rejoice together." The ver}'- poorest people 
were often Wesley's most efficient helpers in his work. 
A i:)Oor widow with four children offered him her humble 
house as a place of rest and preaching. Finding tha 
house too small, Wesle}^ stood upon a chair near a mill 
dam. The miller became ver}^ angry, and to stop Wes- 
ley from preaching let off the water, hoping to drown his 
voice. It was a failure. Yv^esley made the little village 
a regular preaching place, and the poor v/idow and her 
children used to spend the whole of every Friday night 
in winding bobbins to get money enough to buy tea to 
treat the preachers to this beverage when they came to 
the house. 

Among the Methodists there were some who at this 
time professed to enjo}^ the blessing of entire sanctifica- 
tion. Yfesle}' preached the doctrine, but he was ex- 
tremely cautious in his own professions of this state of 
grace, and he Avas very close in examining those who 
made a profession of perfect love. He says, " I was 
with two persons who believe they are " saved from ail 
sin. Be it so, or not, wli}^ should we not rejoice in the 
work of God, so far as it is unquestionably wrought in 



100 A HISTORY OF SIETHODISM 

them. For instance, I asked John C , ' Do you 

always pray? Do you rejoice in God every moment? 
Do you in everything give thanks? In loss? In pain? 
In sickness, weariness, disappointments? Do you de- 
sire nothing? Do you fear nothing? Do you feel the 
love of God continually in your heart? Have you a 
witness, in whatever you speak or do, that it is pleasing 
to God? If he can solemnly and deliberately answer 
in the affirmative, why do I not rejoice and praise God 
on his behalf? Perhaps, because I have an exceedingly 
complex idea of sanctification, or a sanctified man. And 
so, for fear he should not have attained all I include in 
that idea, I cannot rejoice in what he has attained." On 
this point, as it is a very important one, it is well to hear 
more from Wesley. Not long before his death he gave 
an account of how he was brought to believe fally in 
the doctrine of entire sanctification. After many per- 
sons in different parts of the country had professed to 
enjoy the blessing of perfect love, he determined to ex- 
amine them thoroughly as to their experience. He de- 
sired all in London who professed sanctification to meet 
him at the Foundery. " When we met, first one of us 
and then another asked them the most searching ques- 
tions we could devise. They answered every one with- 
out hesitation and with the utmost simplicity, so that we 
were fully persuaded the}^ did not deceive themselves." 
Wesley found years after this that more than six hun- 
dred in his London Societies professed this state of 
grace, and he says he could see no reason to doubt their 
testimony. He says year after year God wrought the 
same work in others, " and every one of these without 
exception declared that his deliverance from sin was in- 
stantaneous ; that the change was wi'ought in a moment. 
Had half of these, or one-third, or one in twenty, de- 



FOR OUrw YOUNG PEOrLE. 101 

clared it was gradually wrought in them, I should have 
believed this, with regard to them, and thought that some 
were gradually sanctified and some instantaneously. 
But as I have not found, in so long a space of time, a 
single person speaking thus, I cannot but believe that 
sanctification is commonly, if not always, an instantane- 
ous work." 

This is Wesley's matured judgment on this Bible doc- 
trine. Himself and his preachers pressed upon the con- 
sciences of the Methodists the necessity of a holy life, 
and thousands rejoiced in the assurance that the blood 
of Jesus can cleanse from all sin. 

In this connection we may well give the proof of the 
spirit which Wesley sought to impart to his preachers 
and people. He published a little tract about the riots 
in Staffordshire, and at the close of it we find the follow- 
ing prayer : " Lo, I come, if this soul and body may be 
useful to do anything, to do th}' will, O God. If it 
please thee to use the power Thou hast over dust and 
ashes, here they are to suffer Thy good pleasure. If 
Thou pleasest to visit me either with pain or dishonour, 
I will humble myself under it, and, tln'ough Thy grace, 
be obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 
Hereafter no man can take away anything from me, no 
life, no honor, no estate ; since I am ready to lay them 
down as soon as I perceive Thou requirest them at my 
hands. Nevertheless, O Father, if Thou be willing, re- 
move this cup from me ; but if not. Thy will be done." 
This prayer expresses the spirit with which Wesley met 
2:)ersecution, and which he strove to infuse into all who 
labored with him in the gospel. 

In the midst of the great revival there were doubters, 
who said. How can these things be? To all such Wes- 
ley declared the work to be of God. He said : " You 



102 A inSTORY OF METHODISM 

have all the proof of this you can reasonably expect or 
desire. That, in many places, abundance of notorious 
sinners are totally reformed is declared by a thousand 
eye and ear witnesses, both of their present and past 
behavior. What would you have more? What pre- 
tence can you have for doubting any longer? Do you 
delay fixing your judgment till you see a work of God 
without any stumbling blocks attending it? That never 
was yet, nor ever will. ' It must needs be that offences 
will come.' And scarce ever was there such a work of 
God before, with so few as have attended this." 

It is curious and interesting to notice the charges 
made against the Methodists when arrested and brought 
before the authorities. A poor man, his wife and seven 
children, were seized under a warrant issued by a Dr. 
Borlase. When Wesley asked what harm the poor 
man had done, the reply was, " The man is well enough 
in other things, but the gentlemen cannot bear his im- 
pudence. Why, sir, he says he knows his sins are for- 
given." One day while Weslc}^ was preaching at Gwen- 
nap, two men rode furiously into the congregation and 
began to lay hold on the people. In the midst of the 
confusion Wesley and others began to sing ; upon this 
Borlase, the head persecutor, called out, " Seize him, 
seize him. I say seize the preacher for his majesty's ser- 
vice." His men held back, at which he cursed them, 
and jumping from his horse, caught hold of Wesley's 
gown saying, "I take you to serve his majesty." Wes- 
ley quietly walked with him nearly a mile, when he 
cooled off and was glad to let the preacher go. 

The next day Wesley was to preach at Falmouth. 
The rabble gathered around the house in which he lodged 
and bawled out, "Bring out the Canorum! Where is the 
Canorum?^a "word by which the}^ meant Methodist. 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 103 

They trokc open the doors and rushed into the house. 
Wesley, perfectl}^ calm, faced them, and asked one after 
another, looking each in the eye, " To which of you have 
I done any wrong ? To j^ou ? or you ? or you ?" They 
were all silent. Thus he went on questioning them until 
he found himself in the street, when he cried out, "Neigh- 
))ors, countrymen! do you desire to hear me speak?" 
" Yes, yes," they said, " he shall speak, he shall ; no one 
shall hinder him !" Just then some gentlemen came up 
and rescued him, and he was sent to a place not far off 
by water. The people ran along the shore to meet him 
at the landing. Wesley faced them, and said to the 
leader, " I wish j^ou a good night ;" to which he replied, 
"I wish 3^ou were in hell," and then went off with his 
rabble. While Wesley met his enemies with the meek 
spirit of the gospel, he was read}^, when he deemed the 
occasion a proper one, to hold those who bullied the Me- 
thodists to account before the law. In Newcastle on one 
occasion a brutal fellow, who had often abused the Or- 
phan House family, met Wesley in the street and cursed 
and pushed him. The next day Wesley sent him the 
following note : 

" Egbert Young, — I expect to see you between this 
and Friday, and to hear from jou, that 3^ou are sensible 
of your faults ; otherwise, in pity to your soul, I shall be 
obliged to inform the magistrates of your assaulting me 
yesterday in the street. I am your real friend, 

John Wesley." 

Mr. Robert Young on receiving this letter came for- 
ward, begged pardon, and promised to do better. 

John Wesley's life was full of incidents. The follow- 
ing account of his preaching in the house of a priest of 
the Church of Rome shows how ready he was to do good 



104 A nisTonY of jmethodism 

to all men. The priest, who had heard strange accounts 
of the Methodists, came to Newcastle and spent several 
days at Wesley's Orphan House making an examination 
of their plans. On leaving he invited Wesley to come 
and see him and to preach at his house in the town 
where he lived. He said he would do so, and started for 
the place, but did not reach it until late at night after a 
rough ride of nearly sixty miles, besides preaching three 
times. Wesley reached the priest's house about ten 
o'clock, and that worthy personage sent out and gathered 
him a congregation in an old Romish chapel. Wesley 
preached to them at midnight, and after such a day's 
work went to rest feeling, he says, "no weariness at all." 
At five the next morning he preached again in another 
popish chapel, and many people sat up all night for fear 
they might not awake in time to hear him. After this visit 
to the North, Wesley wrote to his brother Charles from 
Leeds : " It was time for me to give them ground at 
Newcastle, and to fly for my life. I grew more and more 
honorable every day : the rich and great flocking to us 
together, so that many times the room would not hold 
them. Iniquity for the present hath stopped her mouth ; 
and it is almost fashionable to speak well of us. In all 
appearance, if I had staj^ed a month longer, the mayor 
and aldermen would have been with us." 

From this place, where he so much feared popularity, 
Wesley went southward, and soon we find him in Corn- 
wall, where a very strange incident took place. He was 
just about to preach when a woman of genteel appear-^ 
ance jumped upon the stand and scolded, screamed, spit 
and stamped, wrung her hands, and distorted her face in 
a most violent manner. The woman was a papist, and 
had heard that Wesley was one also, and this indecent 
show of temper was made when she found out that he 



FOR OUR YOUNG TEOPLE. 105 

was not. Wesley let her have matters all her own way, 
taking no notice of her at all. 

Wesley was ready for work among all classes, and 
about this period he had an opportunity of showing his 
interest in soldiers. The kingdom was startled by the 
invasion of Charles Edward Stuart, who had proclaimed 
his father in the Scottish town of Perth. The whole of 
the Xorth of England was throYvu into the greatest ex- 
citement. Weslej^ was in Newcastle while the army of 
King George lay around the town, and he was greatl}^ 
moved at seeing the crowds of drunken and godless 
soldiers that filled the streets day and night. He wrote 
to the mayor on the necessit}" of bringing them under 
restraint, and of giving them proper religious instruc- 
tion. Some of the enemies of Methodism had insinu- 
ated that to make a soldier religious would be to make 
him a coward. Referrins; to those Methodists who had 
been in the battles on the Continent, Wesley said, " Did 
those who feared God behave as cowards at Fontenay? 
Did John Haime, the dragoon, betray anj' cowardice be- 
fore or after his horse sunk under him ? Or did William 
Clements, when he received the first ball in his left, and 
the second in his right arm ? Or John Evans, when the 
cannon ball took off both his legs ? Did he not call all 
about him, as long as he could speak, to praise and fear 
God, and honor the King? as one who feared nothing, 
but lest his last breath should be spent in vain." 

Wesley went to the camp and preached several times. 
" None," he saj^s, " attempted to make the least disturb- 
ance, from the beginning to the end. Yet, I could not 
reach their hearts. The words of a scholar did not afi'ect 
them like those of a dragoon or a grenadier." He al- 
ludes to the powerful and successful preaching of John 
Haime and other Methodists in the English arm}^ 

8 



106 A HISTORY OF 3IETIIODIS5I 

Wesley's second Conference was held this year (1745) 
at Bristol. It began on the 1st of August and continued 
five days. Besides John and Charles Wesley, one cler- 
gyman, Eev. Mr. Hodges, was present. The lay itine- 
rant preachers were Thomas Richards, Samuel Larwood, 
Thomas Meyrick, Richard Moss, John Slocumb, and 
Herbert Jenkins. There was a layman present, Marma- 
duke Gwynne, from Wales, whose daughter Charles Wes- 
ley afterwards married. At the opening of the Confer- 
ence it was agreed that every person might fully speak 
his thoughts, and that no one should be checked though 
what he was saying were plainly wrong. The first thing 
the Conference did was to review the doctrine of Justifi- 
cation. It was ao-reed that while faith in Christ is the 
sole condition of justification, repentance must precede 
saving faith, and that there must also be fruits or works 
meet for repentance. The Conference considered the 
doctrine of sanctification. It was agreed that inward 
sanctification begins the moment a person is justified, 
from which time the believer gradually dies to sin, and 
grows in grace ; that the seeds of sin remain until he is 
sanctified in spirit, soul, and body. They thought that 
sanctification is not ordinarily given until just before 
death, but that believers should seek for it and ex^^ect it 
sooner ; for though they thought it was not usually en- 
joyed until a little before death, this did not, in their 
view, prove that we may not be sanctified to-day. It 
was agreed that in preaching this doctrine great care 
should be observed, and that it should always be by way 
of promise — by drawing, not by driviug. The general 
means to be used in order to receive this blessing were 
the keeping of all God's commandments, denyiug our- 
selves, and taking up our cross daily ; the particular 
means were praj^er, searching the Scriptures, commuui- 



FOR our. YOUNG PEOPLE. 107 

eating, and fasting. Years after this Conference Wesley 
said on this same subject : " In this, as in all other in- 
stances, ' by grace we are saved through faith.' Sancti- 
fication is 'not of works, lest any man should boast.' 
'It is the gift of God,' and is to be received by plain, 
simple faith. Suppose you are now laboring to abstain, 
from all appearance of evil, zealous of good works, and 
walking diligently and carefully in all the ordinances of 
God ; there is then only one point remaining : the voice 
of God to 3^our soul is, ' Believe and be saved.' First, 
believe that God has promised to save you from all sin, 
and to fill you with all holiness. Secondl}^, believe that 
He is able thus to save to the uttermost all that come unto 
God through him. Thirdly, believe that He is willing as 
well as able. Fourthly, believe that He is not only able, 
but willing to do it now ! Not when you come to die, 
not at any distant time, not to-morrow, but to-day. He 
will then enable you to believe it is done, according to 
His word ; and then, 'patience shall have its perfect work, 
and ye shall be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.' " 
The Conference considered the question of church 
government, and to the question : " Is episcopal, presby- 
terian, or independent church government most agreeable 
to reason ?" they gave this answer : " Each is a devel- 
opment of the other. A preacher preaches, and forms 
an independent congregation ; he then forms another and 
another in the immediate vicinity of the first. This 
obliges him to appoint deacons, who look on the fii'st pas- 
tor as their common father ; and as these congregations 
increase, and as these deacons grow in jenrs and grace, 
they need other subordinate deacons or helpers, in re- 
spect of whom they are called presbyters, or elders, as 
their father in the Lord may be called the bishop, or 
overseer of them all." 



108 A HISTORY OF 1»IETII0DIS3I 

Wesle}^ had now fourteen assistants, and it was agreed 
that their one work was to save souls ; and that they 
might do this successfull}^ they were directed by the 
Conference to preach every morning and night ; to spend 
every day from six till twelve o'clock in reading, writing, 
and pra3^er ; to visit their flocks from twelve till five, 
and to spend the hour from five to six in secret pra3^er 
and meditation. The men trained in such a school and 
under the eye of such a worker as John Wesley could 
not fail of success ; and under the blessing of God they 
led thousands out of darkness into light. 

Wesley not only preached, but wrote against the com- 
mon sins of his day. He was alwa3^s at work for the 
good of society. He sent out hy millions all over Eng- 
land short and pointed tracts on the evils which generally 
prevailed. We give the titles of some of these with ex- 
tracts : " Swear not at all, saith the Lord of Hosts." 
"A word to a Swearer." In this he said : "In what city 
or town, in what market or exchange, in what street or 
place of public resort, is not the name of God taken in 
vain, day by day ? From the noble to the peasant, who 
fails to call upon God in this, if in no other way? 
Whither can you turn, where can you go, without hear- 
ing some praying to God for damnation, either on his 
neighbor or himself? cursing those without fear or re- 
morse whom Christ hath bought to inherit a blessing !" 
In "A Word to a Sabbath-breaker"he said : "How many 
are they who profane the Sabbath with a high hand ! 
How many that openly defy God, that break the laws 
both Divine and human, by working at their trade, deliv- 
ering their goods, receiving their pay, or following their 
ordinary business, and wiping their mouths and saying, 
' I do no evil !' How many buy and sell on the day ol 
the Lord, even in the open streets ? How many open or 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 109 

(with some modest}^) half open their shops? even when 
they have not the pretence of perishable goods ; without 
any pretence at all ; money is their god, and gain their 
godliness. What also are these drives in the outskirts of 
the town, that well-nigh cover the face of the earth? till 
they drop one after another into the numerous recepta- 
cles prepared for them in every corner. They drink ini- 
quity like water." 

" The religious observance of the Sabbath," said Wes- 
ley, " is the best preservation of virtue and religion, and 
the neglect and profanation of it is the' greatest inlet to 
vice and wickedness." 

In " A Word to a Drunkard," he said : " Are you a 
man ? God made j^ou a man ; but you make yourself a 
beast. Wherein does a man differ from a beast? Is it 
not chiefl}' in reason and understanding? But you throw 
away what reason j^ou have. You strip yourself of your 
understanding. You do all you can to make yourself a 
mere beast; not a fool, not a madman only, but a swine, 
a poor, filthy swine. Go and wallow with them in the 
mire ! Go, drink on, till thy nakedness be uncovered 
and shameful spewing be on th}- glory ! O how honor- 
able is a beast of God's making, compared to one who 
makes himself a beast ! But that is not all. You make 
yourself a devil. You stir up all the devilish tempers 
that are in you, and gain others which perhaps were not 
in 3^ou. You cause the fire of anger or malice or lust to 
burn seven times hotter than before." 

These plain and burning words of Wesley against the 
common sins of the day will show the state of English 
society and the evils against which Methodism made its 
way by the sheer force of the truth preached in sim- 
plicity and in the power of the Holy Ghost. Wesley 
fifave a tract called " Advice to the People called Metho- 



110 A HISTORY OF I^IETHODISM 

dists," which those who bear that name should never 
forget. He advised them, 1. To consider deeply the 
circumstances in which they stood ; for their name, their 
principles, and their strictness of life were neic. They 
were neivly united together, a poor, low, and insignificant 
people — most even of their teachers being quite un- 
learned men. 2. Not to imagine they could avoid giving 
offence. 3. To consider deeply with themselves, Is the 
God whom we serve able to deliver us ? 4. To be true 
to their principles. 5. Not to talk much of what they 
suffered. 

Wesley was a most diligent writer ; he knew the power 
of the pen, and the great value of good and cheap books 
scattered over a country. It would be wise in those who 
conduct Methodist publishing houses the world over to 
consider the following from this great man^ written about 
eight years before his death : " Two and forty years 
ago," he says, " having a desire to furnish poor people 
with cheaper, shorter, and plainer books, than any I had 
seen, I wrote many small tracts, generally a penny 
a piece ; and afterwards several larger. Some of these 
had such a sale as I never thought of; and by this 
means, I unawares became rich. But I never desired or 
endeavored after it. And now that it is come upon me 
unawares, I lay up no treasures upon earth ; I lay up 
nothing at all. I cannot help leaving my books behind 
me whenever God calls me hence ; but in every other 
respect, ray own hands will be my executors." 

While the Weslej^s were calling sinners to repentance 
in England, Whitefield was doing the same work' in 
America. He wrote Wesley in 1746 : "If you ask what 
I am doing — ranging and hunting the American woods 
after poor sinners. If you ask, with what success — my 
labors were never more acceptable ; and the door for 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. Ill 

fifteen hundred miles together, is quite open' for 
preaching the everlasting gospel. In Maryland and 
Virginia, people fly to hear the word like doves to the 
windows." Whitefield did not meet the brutal mobs in 
America that his brethren in England had to face. 

Charles Wesley went into Cornwall, and his coming 
was the signal for all manner of violence. At one place 
as soon as he opened the service the rabble "began 
roaring, stamping, blaspheming, ringing the bells, and 
turning the church into a bear garden." At another 
town, finding no more suitable place, he preached in a 
cock pit ; an English squire tried to raise a mob, and 
two base fellows brought a couple of cocks and set them 
to fighting ; but the preacher went on and finished his 
sermon, and poured out his happy soul in this strain : 

" All thanks he to God, 
Who scatters abroad, 
By the least of his servants, his savor oi grace ; 
Who the victor}^ gave, 
The praise let hiiu have, 
For the work he has done 
All honor and glor}-- to Jesus alone !" 

The journeys of Wesley and his preachers were made 
on foot or on horseback, and were sometimes attended 
with much suffering. On a route of over three hundred 
miles from Bristol to Newcastle, Wesley met with severe 
weather and most cruel treatment from mobs. The 
roads were in a dreadful condition, rain and snow fell 
heavily, and the weary man was actuall}'- covered from 
head to foot with sleet. As he passed through Leeds 
the mob pelted him with stones, dirt, and whatever they 
could find. He was struck upon the face several times, 
but not severely hurt. He spent eighteen da3^s preach- 
ing in various places about Newcastle, and on one occa- 



112 A HISTOKY OF IVrETHODISM 

sion in the midst of a violent storm, wliich neither the 
preacher nor his hearers regarded. 

The preacliers that helped Wesle}^ in his great work 
were generally without the advantages of education or 
general reading. But they knew the value of religion 
by happy experience, and their sermons were usually 
upon the first principles of religion. Repentance, faith, 
and a holy life they urged upon all who heard with a 
feivor that hardly ever failed to bring sinners to Christ. 
But Wesley was too wise a man to allow his preachers 
to work on without giving them a course of reading for 
the improvement of their minds. He felt that they must 
both preach and read. In making out a course of read- 
ing he called to his aid the celebrated Dr. Doddridge, 
who furnished him the following list of subjects to be 
studied by the Methodist itinerants : Logic, Metaplwsics, 
Ethics, Jewish Antiquities, Civil History, Natural Phi- 
losoph}^ Astronomy, Natural and Revealed Religion ; 
in Divinity the most eminent authors were recom- 
mended, such as Baxter, Flavel, Owen, Bates, Howe, &c. 
It can be readily seen how men of naturally good minds 
studjdng such subjects and such writers would become 
workmen not to be ashamed. 

Wesley was a man of pra3^er. He gives an instance 
of an answer to prayer which is so remarkable that we 
notice it for the benefit of our readers. On a journey 
he had ridden nearly fifty miles, when his horse became 
very lame. He says, "By riding thus seven miles, I was 
thoroughly tired, and my head ached more than it had 
done for months. I then thought, ' Cannot God heal 
cither man or beast, by an}'- means, or without any?' 
Immediately m}^ weariness and headache ceased, and 
my horse's lameness in the same instant. I here aver a 
naked fact ; let every man account for it as he sees good." 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 113 

"Wesley never allowed a Society to suffer from the 
presence of useless and unworthy members. Of a cer- 
tain town he said : " I had long doubted what it was 
which hindered the work of God here. But, upon in- 
quiry, the case was plain. So many of the Society were 
either triflers or disorderly walkers, that the blessing of 
God could not rest upon them ; so I made short work 
cutting off all such at a stroke, and leaving only a little 
handful, who, as far as can be judged, were really in 
earnest to save their souls." At another place he found 
a very lively Societ}'', but a few he felt " obliged to re- 
prove for negligence in meeting, which is always the 
forerunner of greater evils." 

The sufferings of poor people always touched the heart 
of Wesley. We have already seen how he begged 
money to furnish them with food and clothing ; he now 
proposed to do more by regularly supplying them with 
proper ph3"sic when sick. After thinking much about 
them, he says, " I thought of a desperate expedient : ' I 
will prepare and give them physic myself.' For six or 
seven and twenty 3^ears, I had made anatomy and physic 
the diversion of my leisure hours ; though I never pro- 
perly studied them, unless for a few months when I was 
going to America, where I imagined I might be of some 
service to those who had no regular physician among 
them. I applied to it again. I took into my assistance 
an apothecar}'^ and an experienced surgeon ; resolving, 
at the same time, not to go out of my depth, but to leave 
all difficult and complicated cases to such physicians as 
the patients should choose. I gave notice of this to the 
Society ; and in five months medicines were occasionally 
given to above five hundred persons. Several of these 
I never saw before, for I did not regard whether they 
were of the Society or not. In that time, seventy-one 



114 A inSTORY OF JMETHODISM 

of these, regularly taking their medicines, and following 
the regimen prescribed (which three in four would not 
do), were entirely cured of distempers long thought to 
be incurable. The whole expense of medicines during 
this time was nearly forty pounds." This kind act of 
Wesley brought upon him the ridicule of many people, 
and they branded him as a quack. But he went on with 
his good work, and he had the blessing of the poor peo- 
ple whom he relieved. In a letter in defence of his 
course he says : " I do not know that any one patient 
yet has died under my hands. If any one does let it 
be declared with the time and circumstances." Again 
he said : " I have believed it m.j duty within these four 
months last passed, to prescribe such medicines to six 
or seven hundred of the poor as I knew were proper for 
their several disorders. Within six weeks, nine or ten 
of them, who had taken these medicines, were remarka- 
bly altered for the better ; and more cured of disorders 
under which they had labored for ten, twenty, forty 
years. Now ought I to have let one of these poor 
wretches perish because I was not a regular physician ? 
to have said, ' I know what will cure you ; but I am not 
of the college; you must send for Dr. Mead? Before 
Dr. Mead had come in his chariot, the man might have 
been in his coffin. And when the doctor was come, 
where was his fee? What ! he cannot live upon nothing ! 
So, instead of an orderly cure, the patient dies ; and 
God requires his blood at my hands." This letter was 
written to Archbishop Seeker, to whom probably some 
straight-laced clergymen had reported that John Wesley 
was setting up for a doctor. The whole affair was a 
pure charity on the part of Wesley. He was not the 
man to be turned aside from a good work, and his dis- 
pensary in London worked so well that he soon estab- 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 115 

lishcd another at Bristol, of which he said in writing to 
a friend : " We have now upwards of two hundred pa- 
tients at Bristol. They increase daily. Many have 
already desired to return thanks, having found a con- 
siderable change for the better already." 

AYesley's third Conference met at Bristol in May 
(1746.) Besides the two leaders, the only clergymen 
present were Messrs. Hodges and Taylor. The itine- 
rants present were Messrs. Reeves, Maxfield, Westall, 
Willis, and Glascot. Doctrines were carefully reviewed 
and great care taken to guard against error. " The pro- 
perest persons to be present" at Conference were de- 
cided to be, 1. The preachers. 2. The most earnest and 
most sensible of the band leaders living in the town 
where the Conference was held. 3. Any pious and judi- 
cious stranger who might be visiting the place. The 
preachers who helped Wesley in his work were defined 
to be " extraordinary messengers, designed of God to 
provoke the others to jealousy." The Conference deter- 
mined to examine all who felt called to preach, on three 
points with great care : Have they grace, gifts, and 
fruit ? If these marks clearly appeared they were ac- 
cepted as helpers. The subject matter of preaching was 
closely considered. It was agreed that the sermons at- 
tended with the greatest blessing were, " 1. Such as were 
most close, convincing, particular. 2. Such as had most 
of Christ, the Priest, the Atonement. 3. Such as urged 
the heinousness of men's living in contempt or ignorance 
of Him." A call of Providence to a new place was to 
be determined by an invitation from some worthy per- 
son, and by a prospect of doing more good by going 
than by sta3dng where they were. In this way circuits 
grew up. We have seen that Methodist Conferences 
}2:rew out of the necessity for consultation between Wes- 



116 A HISTORY OF :METH0DISM 

ley and his helpers. We shall see circuits growing out 
of a desire to carry the gospel to as many souls as pos- 
sible in a given section. Starting from one point, a 
preacher went from place to place preaching and visiting 
until he came to that point again, and thus having com- 
pleted a circle as it were, his field of labor was called a 
circuit. These circuits were at first very large, many 
times larger than circuits are now. We see by this how 
the plans of Methodism were opened and established 
by God's providence. Wesley always watched closely 
the signs that God gave him, and sought to go where 
His hand pointed. He had no cut and dried plans pre- 
pared beforehand. Methodism is the child of Provi- 
dence. It will be well for all Methodists to remember 
this, and so to live and act, and so closely to follow the 
example of Wesle}^ that God may never cast them and 
their Church away. 

In what spirit and with what aim Wesley preached 
and talked and wrote, we learn from his own preface to 
the first volume of sermons he published. He did not 
put his thoughts in an elaborate, elegant, or rhetorical 
dress, thous-h he mig;ht have done this as a man of s-reat 
capacity and learning. He had a nobler purpose than 
to please by fine writing. He says, " I now write as I 
speak to the people. I design plain truth for plain peo- 
ple ; therefore, of set purpose, I abstain from all nice 
and philosophical speculations ; from all perplexed and 
intricate reasonings ; and as far as possible from even 
the show of learning, unless in sometimes citing the 
original Scripture. I have thought, I am a creature of 
a day. I am a spirit come from God, and returning to 
God. I want to know one thing — the way to heaven. 
God himself has condescended to teach me the way. 
He hath written it down in a book. O give me that 



FOK OUR YOUNG PEOFLE. 117 

book ! At any price, give me the book of God ! I have 
it ; here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be a nian 
of one book. Here then I am, far from tlie busy ways 
of men. I sit down alone. God only is here. In His 
presence, I read His book ; for this end, to find the way 
to heaven. Is there a doubt concerning the meaning ot 
what I read ? I lift up my heart to the Father of lights, 
and ask Him to let me know His will. I then search 
after and consider parallel passages of Scripture. I 
meditate thereon with all the attention and earnestness 
of which my mind is capable. If any doubt still re- 
mains, I consult those who are experienced in the things 
of God ; and then the writings whereby, being dead, 
they yet speak. And what I thus learn I teach." What 
a beautiful lesson for all who would read the Holy Scrip- 
tures aright ! Is it any wonder that sermons composed 
in such a spirit and wTitten by such a man should be the 
means of leading multiplied thousands to Christ ? And 
what an example does Wesley set for all ministers who 
really desire not to make a parade of learning, but to 
profit their hearers by preaching a pure and simple gos- 
pel. 

The men that Wesle}^ sent forth to preach caught the 
spirit of their leader and bravely faced the mobs that 
cursed, abused, and pelted them with all kinds of mis- 
siles. The treatment of the sturdy itinerant, John Nel- 
son, is a sample of the trials and sufferings that the 
early preachers endured for Christ's sake. He exerted 
a powerful influence on the common people, and they 
came out in vast crowds to hear him preach. But the 
furious mobs would rush upon him like lions, and several 
times he nearly lost his life. At one place a party of 
wicked young men resolved to seize the first Methodist 
preacher that should come among them, to put a ropo 



118 A IITSTOUY OF MF.TI10I>IS:\[ 

about his nook, and drnp; him to the river and drown 
him. Nelson >Yas the tirst preacher that came. ^Vith 
six large hand bells they drowned his voice, wlien one 
of them rushed up to throw a rope around his neck. Nel- 
son pushed him back, and the fellow fell to the ground. 
A constable came up at this moment, and taking the 
preacher by the hand, led him through the croAvd, and 
helping him to mount his horse, bade him begone. At 
another town he tared much worse. Showers of bricks 
and stones were thrown at him while preaching, and the 
attack was so tierce that alT who were near him ran olf; 
none of the missiles struck him. but just as he stepped 
down from the table from which he had preached, a n\an 
struck him on the back of his head with a brick, and he 
fell bleeding to the ground. ^Vhcu he was raised up 
the blood was running in a stream ilown his back, tilling 
his shoes, while the mob followed shouting and threaten- 
ing to kill him ; " Lord," cried the poor preacher. " Thou 
wast slain without the gate and canst deliver me from 
these bloodthirsty men," A man opened his door and 
took him in. a doctor came and bouiul up his wound, and 
the same day he went on to preach at another place. 
Here he was seized by several strong men, who threw 
him to the ground, and six oi' them stood on him '* to 
tread the Holy Ghost out of him." "Thej^ then let me 
alone." he says. " and said one to another, * We cannot 
kill him.' One said. ' 1 Iuia'C heard that a cat hath nine 
lives, but I think he hath nine score.' Another said, *lf 
he has he shall die this day.' A third said, ' Where is 
his horse? for he shall quit the town immediatehV And 
t hey said to me, ' Carder your horse to be brought to you. 
for you shall go before we leave you.' I said, ' I will 
not, for you intend to kill me in private that you may 
escape justice ; but if you do murder me it shall be in 



FOR OUR YOUNG TEOrLE. 119 

public ;, and it may be that the gallows will bring j^ou to 
repentance, and j^our souls may be saved from the wrath 
to come." They then seized him and tried to drag him 
to a well to throw him in, but a woman near the well 
beat them off and actually knocked several of them 
down. Nelson escaped and next day rode forty miles 
to meet Wesley and hear him preach. lie was filled 
with joy, and " I find," he says, " the word to come with 
power to my soul," and was constrained to cry out, " O 
Lord I will praise thee for thy goodness to me, for Thou 
hast been with me in all m}'- trials ; Thou hast brought me 
out of the jaws of death ; and though Tliou didst permit 
men to ride over my head, and laid affliction on my loins, 
3^et Thou hast brought me through fire and water into a 
wealthy place." And in the fullness of a grateful heart 
he continues : " ni}' dear Redeemer, how shall I praise 
thee as Thou oughtcst to be praised? O let my life be 
a sacrifice to Thee, for it is by Thee alone that I have 
escaped temporal and eternal death." 

It was often the case that the most violent persecutors 
were stricken down by the power of God, and became 
zealous Christians. A man named John Thorp was one 
of a number of men who frequented a drinking house 
where one of the amusements was to burlesque the 
preaching of the Methodists. One day three of the 
company had mounted a table, taken a text from the 
Bible, and mimicked the preachers. Thorp's turn came 
next, and he mounted the table, saying he would beat 
them all bj' an imitation of Whitefield. He opened the 
Bible and the first passage his eyes fell upon was, " Ex- 
cept ye repent ye shall all likewise perish." He felt as 
if a sword had pierced him, but he went on with his ser- 
mon and amazed his drunken companions by the force 
and fervor of his words. He said some of his sentences 



120 A inSTORY OF iMETHODIS:M 

made his hair stand on his head. " If ever I preached 
in my life," he says, " by the assistance of the Spirit of 
God, it was at that time." He was soon after converted 
and became a preacher. 

We have made reference to the Methodist soldiers 
who served in the English army in Flanders. These 
zealous servants of God merit a more extended notice. 
John Haime, Sampson Staniforth, Mark Bond, William 
Clements, and John Evans were the leading men in the 
great revival among the soldiers. Haime was a man of 
gloomy experience and had terrible battles with Satan, 
but he was a most faithful preacher. In almost every 
regiment there were converts, and three hundred were 
organized into Societies. Haime preached as often as 
five times a day, and to do so, often walking between 
twenty and thirty miles. At one town the General gave 
him permission to preach every day in the English 
church, and the Methodist soldiers would march in pro- 
cession to the meetings, where their hearty singing 
brouo-ht laro;e crowds to the services. In battle the 
Methodist soldiers showed the value of their religion. 
The day before the battle of Fontenay, says Staniforth. 
'■'I stepped out of the line and threw myself on the 
ground, and prayed that God would deliver me from all 
fear, and enable me to behave as a Christian and good 
soldier. Glory be to God, he heard my cry and took 
away all my fear. I came into the ranks again, and had 
both peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." One of the 
Methodists on going into battle said, "I am going to 
rest in the bosom of Jesus." Pie was killed before 
night. " This day," sa3^s Haime, " God was pleased to 
prove our little flock, and to show them his mighty power. 
They showed such courage and boldness in the fight as 
made the officers as well as soldiers amazed. When 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 121 

wounded, some cried out, * I am going to my Beloved.' 
Others, 'Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.'" When 
Clements had his arm broken, his comrades wished to 
carry him out of the fight ; but he said, " No ; I have 
an arm left to hold my sword, I will not go yet." When 
his other arm was broken he said, " I am as happy as I 
can be out of paradise." John Evans, one of the 
preachers, had both legs shot off, and was laid across a 
cannon to die ; he praised God as long as he had breath. 
Haime thought he would not be killed that day. In the 
midst of the battle his horse was killed under him by a 
cannon-ball. An officer called out to him, "Haime, 
where is your God now?" He replied, "Sir, he is here 
and he will bring me out of this battle." In a few mo- 
ments the officer's head was taken off by a cannon-ball. 
As he left the field after the battle Haime met one of 
his comrades covered with blood, seeking water, who 
said, "Brother Haime, I have got a sore wound." "Have 
3'ou Christ in your heart?" said Haime. "I have," said 
the soldier, " and I have had him all day. Glory be to 
God for all his mercies." Bond was killed, and " here 
fell," said Staniforth, " a great Christian, a good soldier, 
and a faithful friend." Haime and Staniforth were 
spared and returned to England, where they labored 
faithfully as preachers, and died old men in peace and 
joy. The Methodist soldiers, when the war was over, 
were the instruments in planting Methodism in many 
places in England and Scotland. 

9 



122 A HISTORY OF IMETHODISM 



CHAPTER X. 

Let us now look for a few moments at the labors of 
Whitefield and his preachers. They differed with Wes- 
ley in doctrine, but they were not less zealous in preach- 
ing the gospel in the face of the greatest opposition. 
Whitefield was now (1747) in America ranging the coun- 
try from Georgia to Massachusetts, and preaching with 
angelic ferA^or to thousands of hearers. In Wales, Howell 
Harris wrote of the prospect : " Wales is like the gar- 
den of the Lord ; many are awakened and fresh doors 
opened. Hasten thy winged motion, oh 'glorious day ! 
when I shall see Paul and Barnabas, Luther and Calvin, 
and all the saints, joining in one song, and not so much 
as remembering that they ever differed." James Keliey 
preached at Tewkesbury, where " a furious mob assaulted 
him, swore, cursed, laughed, pricked the congregation 
with pins ; threw handfuls of snuff among them, and 
brickbats and dirt ; and broke the windows of the house ; 
but in the midst of all, he continued preaching for an 
hour." John Edwards preached with great success, and 
says of his work : " Oh, what seasons we have had ; 
souls fired with the love of God, and following the word 
from place to place, horse and foot, like men engaged in 
a war, determined to take the city by force of arms." 

One of the most zealous ministers of the Church that 
entered into the great revival was Rev. William Grim- 
shaw, of Haworth, in Yorkshire. He was a preacher 
for ten years before he knew the life and power of reli- 
gion. After great mental agony he embraced the doc- 
trines of Methodism, and in them found peace to his 



FOR OUK YOUNG TEOPLE. 123 

soul. He retained his parish, but became one of "Wes- 
ley's "Assistants," and superintended two circuits. The 
people of his parish were ver}^ ignorant^ and brutal, but 
by almost apostolic labors he reformed them and led 
hundreds to Christ. His hearers melted under his 
earnest and eloquent preaching, and many would fall 
like dead men to the ground. He went round his cir- 
cuit every two weeks, and sometimes preached thirty 
sermons a week. If his people would not come to 
church, he would preach before their doors saying, "If 
you will not come to hear me at the church, you shall 
hear me at home ; if you perish, you shall perish with 
the sound of the gospel in your ears." He sometimes 
disguised himself and went about among his people that 
he might detect and reprove their vices. Once he went 
as a beggar to the house of a man supposed to be very 
kind to the poor, and asked to be taken in for a night, 
but was driven away ; he knew afterwards how to rebuke 
such pretended charity. Wesley and Whitefield often 
visited him, and he was always delighted to have them 
or their preachers in his house. He was a servant to 
them, even cleaning their shoes, and when the house waS' 
full, would give up his own bed and sleep in the barn. 
When one of the itinerants had preached a very impres- 
sive sermon, Grimshaw took him in his arms saying, 
" The Lord bless thee ! this is worth a hundred of my 
sermons." Once in company with John Wesley, he felt 
the brutal power of a mob. Wesley, who said his rule 
was always to face a mob, took his stand and began to 
preach ; before he finished a furious multitude came 
rushing into the town. He and Grimshaw were borne 
off for two miles to another place, and while on the way 
one of the rioters struck Wesley a heavy blow on the 
face, while another, with horrid curses, brandished a club 



124 A HISTORY OF lilETHODISM 

over his head. They demanded that they should promise 
to preach no more in the neighborhood. Wesley said 
that he would sooner cut oflf his right arm than give such 
a promise. He and the justice then went out at one 
door, and Grimshaw and a friend at another, when the 
mob rushed upon the latter, "tossed them to and fro with 
the utmost violence," and covered them with mud and dirt. 
Grimshaw was knocked down, but got up and soon 
joined Wesley. As they went off they were pelted by 
the crowd with dirt and stones ; and Wesley was once 
knocked down. The next day he preached to a vast 
congregation at another place, and says, "I lifted up my 
hands, and preached as I never did in my life." 

The houses in which the Methodists worshipped were 
of the humblest kind ; a barn, a carpenter's shop, a 
sail loft, furnished with a few rude seats, was often 
a place in which God made known his power. In 
Manchester, England, where Methodism is now so 
powerful, the beginnings were very unpromising. A few 
persons who had formed a Society invited Wesley to 
visit them and preach for them. He went, of course, 
and the little band grew in numbers. One of the 
preachers, years afterwards, at a Conference at Man- 
chester, referring to this preaching place, said : " In 
1749, I preached in an old garret that overhung the 
river. * * * * The coals were in one corner of the 
room, the looms in another, and I was in danger of 
breaking my neck in getting up to it. The congregra- 
tions consisted of not more than from twenty to thirty 
persons." The garret room was the home of a poor 
woman who worked her spinning wheel in one corner, 
while her husband wove in another. 

When Wesley reached London, after an extended tour 
in the northern part of England, he at once turned his 



FOR our. YOUNG PEOPLE. 125 

attention to the poor, and made an addition to his means 
of relieving their wants. He rented and fitted up two small 
houses for poor widows and others who needed such a 
home. Of this new work of charity, he wrote the next 
3^ear (1748): "In this (commonly called the poor-house) 
we have now nine widows, one blind woman, two poor 
children, and two upper servants, a maid and a man. I 
might add, four or five preachers ; for I myself, as well 
as the other preachers who are in town, diet with the 
poor, on the same food, and at the same table ; and we 
rejoice herein, as a comfortable earnest of our eating 
bread together in our Father's kingdom." 

Wesley gave special attention to his stewards, whom 
he regarded as very valuable officers in the church. In 
London he reduced the number from sixteen to seven. 
He gave them very careful instructions as to their be- 
havior and the method of conducting their church busi- 
ness. They were to have meetings twice a week, Tues- 
days and Thursdays ; and they were to begin and end 
with praj'er. Once a mouth they were to transcribe 
their accounts into a ledger. Each steward in turn was 
to be chairman for a month. Nothing was to be done 
without the consent of the minister. The stewards were 
to be ver}^ serious ; only one was to speak at a time, 
and he only just loud enough to make himself heard. 
Clamour and contention were to be avoided. If they 
could give the poor that came for relief nothing else, 
they must at least give them soft words, and make them 
glad to come even though they might go away empty. 
A steward who broke any of these rules, after being ad- 
monished three times by the chairman, was to be put 
out of the office. 

Wesley was deeply interested in the education of the 
young, and established schools v/herever it was practica- 



126 A niSTOKY OF JIETHODISM 

ble to do so. He had one in London, where most of the 
children, being extremel}^ poor, were taught without 
charge. He also established a lending society. For 
this purpose he walked nearly all over London and col- 
lected about $250, which he placed in the hands of the 
stewards as a fund, from which they were to loan to 
needy persons who wanted small sums, not above $5, 
which thc}^ were to pay back in three months. Wesley 
said of this plan : " It is almost incredible, but, with 
this inconsiderable sum, two hundred and fifty have been 
assisted within the year 1747. Will not God put it into 
the heart of some lover of mankind to increase this little 
stock? If this is not lending unto the Lord, what is?" 
By the liberality of some of his friends, Wesley did in- 
crease this fund, and when -it became larger the maxi- 
mum loan was raised to $25. Hundreds of poor people 
were greatly helped in business, and one instance is 
given where a man who was a poor cobbler obtained a 
loan from this fund, went into the book business, and in 
eighteen years the income from his immense sales 
brought him |25,000 a year. 

Thus in every way that he could, Wesley helped his 
fellow men. His motto seemed to be, " to do good and 
to communicate forget not, for with such sacrifices God 
is well pleased." 

The Conference of 1747 began on June 15 and ended 
on the 20th. It was the largest yet held. Besides John 
and Charles Wesley, four other clergymen were present : 
Charles Manning, Richard Thomas Bateman, Henry 
Piers, and Vincent Perronet. Howell Harris, the Welsh 
Calviuistic Methodist, and nine of Wesley's assistants, 
were in attendance. The Conference closely reviewed 
their doctrines and practices. It was agreed that they 
had been too limited in their field preaching, and they 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 127 

thought they had paid " respect to persons" by giving 
more attention to the rich than to the poor. Wesley 
had now twenty-two helpers, besides thirty-eight local 
preachers, who aided much in the general work. The 
plainness and candor of these men in their Conferences 
is worthy of special notice. " In our first Conference,*' 
they say, " it was agreed to examine every point from 
the foundation. Have we not been somewhat fearful in 
doing this? What were we afraid of? Of overturning 
our first principles ? Whoever was afraid of this, it was 
a vain fear. For if they were true, they will bear the 
strictest examination. If they are false, the sooner they 
are overturned the better. Let us all pra}'- for a willing- 
ness to receive light ; an inevitable desire to know of 
every doctrine whether it be of God." Such was the 
spirit of the first Methodist preachers. 

Soon after the Conference Wesley went into Corn- 
wall on a preaching tour. At a town where he was to 
preach a man said, if he preaches here I will stone him. 
Wesley came and read as his text, "He that is without 
sin among 3'ou, let him first cast a stone at her." The 
man had no sooner heard the text than his courage failed 
him, and he dropped his rocks and went off wondering 
at the preacher. 

This year (1747) Wesley for the first time visited Ire- 
land. He landed in Dublin Bay in August, and began a 
work among the Irish which still goes on with power. 
The Moravians had preached and gathered some Socie- 
ties previous to his coming, and one Thomas Williams, a 
Methodist itinerant, had gathered a Society of about two 
hundred in Dublin. Wesley's first sermon was preached 
he says " to as gay and senseless a congregation as he 
ever saw." He spent two weeks in Ireland preaching 
and visiting, and then returned to England. In Septem- 



128 A mSTORY OF ]V1ETH0DISM 

ber Charles "Wesley came over. During the absence of 
his brother, the mob showed their hatred of Methodism 
by breaking into the chapel, destroying the furniture, 
and burning the pulpit in the street. Some of the ruffi- 
ans used their shillalahs quite freely on the heads of the 
Methodists. The Irish gave the Methodists a new name. 
They called them " Swaddlers." John Cennick, a Mora- 
vian preacher, in a tirade against papal idolatry, had 
said, "I curse and blaspheme all the gods in heaven but 
the Babe that lay in Mary's lap, the Babe that lay in 
swaddling clouts." He was afterwards called "Swad- 
dling John," and the Methodists, " Swaddlers." 

Methodism met a fierce and brutal opposition in Ire- 
land. The children were taught to run after Wesley in 
the streets shouting, "Swaddler, Swaddler !" "The 
word," he says, "sticks to us all, not excepting the 
clergy." He met the mobs with his usual courage. He 
said after a week's preaching, "Woe is me now, for my 
soul is wearied because of the murderers which the city is 
full of." A mob seldom broke up until some one had 
been killed. A Methodist was thrown into a cellar and 
stones cast upon him ; another was thrown to the ground 
and stamped upon by the brutal wretches until he died. 
The murderers were tried, but, " as usual," says Weslej?", 
were acquitted. A woman was knocked down and beaten 
to death in the street. An officer of police who tried to 
protect Wesley was knocked down, beaten and dragged 
until dead and then hung up in savage triumph. No one 
was arrested for this brutal deed. Wesley was stoned 
through the length of a street, and might have been 
killed had not a youug man shielded him with his own 
body. 

But even an Irish mob was conquered by the spirit 
and endurance of the Methodists. After a while they 




Charles Wesley, the Sweet Singer of Methodism. 

Face page 129. 



FOR Om YOUNG PEOPLE. 129 

were able to preach in peace on the public square, and 
Wesley at last said that he had never preached to a 
more orderly congregation even in the Foundery at Lon- 
don. The word came with power to the hearts of the 
people, and often their sobs and cries would drown his 
voice. Some of his preachers went out into the country 
places, and Wesley followed to confirm the souls of be- 
lievers. As he rode alongr he could hear the Methodist 
tunes sung or whistled even by the children of Catholics. 
At one place the whole town crowded out to hear him. 
"Never," *he sa3^s, "have I spoken to more hungry eouls. 
They devoured every word. Some expressed their satis- 
faction in a way peculiar to them, and whistled for joy. 
The people of Tyrell's Pass were wicked to a proverb — 
swearers, drunkards, Sabbath-breakers, thieves, &c., from 
time immemorial; But now the scene is entirely changed. 
Not an oath is heard, not a drunkard seen among them. 
They are turned from darkness to light. Near one hun- 
dred joined in Society, and following hard after the par- 
doning God." 

It is a well known fact, or ought to be well known at 
least by Methodists, that simple, hearty singing was a 
source of much power in all the early revivals. Charles 
Wesley^s pure gospel hymns, with easy tunes, were sung 
with heartiness in all the congregations, and the worst 
sinners were often seen to weep while they listened to 
the music made by joj^ous believers. The Irish were 
deeply impressed by such singing. An anecdote is on 
record which illustrates this point. In a certain place 
the Methodists were very much persecuted by the Eoman 
Catholics, and to avoid disturbance they met in a barn 
with closed doors. One of the persecutors crept into 
the barn and concealed himself in a large sack, intend- 
ing at the proper time to open the door for his comrades. 



130 A inSTORY OF 3rETII0DISM 

He lav quiet until the siuoiuo- began, and he was so much - 
pleased with it he coneluded to hear it through before he 
opened the door ; -vrhen the singing was over, he thought .j 
he would lie still and hear the prayer. But the j)rayer; 
was too much tor him ; he began to tremble ; presently, 
he roared out and alarmed the congregation, some of 
whom thought the devil was in the sack. When the sack 
was pulled off the poor wretch he was found weeping 
and praying in great distress. He was soon happily con- 
verted. 

Another case is related. A tavern keeper, fond of 
music, wished to enjoy Methodist singing without hear- 
ing jMethodist preaching, so he went to meeting and lis- 
tened to the singing, but when that was over and the 
preacher wa^ about to take his text, he hung his head 
and put his lingers into his ears, and thus sat ; but a fly 
lit upon his nose and annoyed him, and at the moment he 
moved his hand to drive it off the preacher repeated his 
text with emphasis, "He that hath ears to hear, let him 
hear." The word took hold on his heart, and he became 
a penitent and was soon converted. 

One of Wesley's most laith»ful preachers lost his life 
for Christ's sake in Ireland. John ^IcBurney once tried 
to preach near a place called Enniskillen. While the 
people were singing the mob rushed in armed with clubs, 
broke the windows to pieces, and drove them all out. 
McBurney was knocked down and dragged on the ground 
until he became insensible. On coming to himself, he 
tried to rise, but fell again. A brutal man rushed up to 
him, and stamped on his face, saying he would "tread 
the Holy Ghost out of him." "^lay God forgive you," 
said McBurney, "as I do." He was then placed on his 
horse and driven furiously do^m the mountain side by 
one of the rioters who had mounted behind him. He 



FOR OUK YOrXO TEOrLE. 131 

was rescued from them by a kind man who took him into 
his house. He went on preaching as long as he was 
able, but at Last died of the brutal treatment he liad re- 
ceived from this mob. 

But while Methodism was terribly persecuted in Ire- 
land, mau}^ were gathered into her folds that became 
burning and shining lights. Under the preaching of Ro- 
bert Swindells, one of the most faithful assistants, a 
3'oung Catholic was converted who became a preacher, 
and one of the most remarkable men of his age. His 
name was Thomas Walsh, and twenty 3'ears after his 
conversion and entrance into the ministry, Wesley said 
of him that he knew a 3'oung man who was so thoroughly 
acquainted with the Bible that if he was questioned con- 
cerning any Hebrew word in the Old or any Greek in the 
New Testament, he would tell, after a brief pause, not 
onl}' how often the one or the other occurred in the Bible, 
but what it meant in every place. Such a master of bib- 
lical knowledge he sa3^s he never saw before, and never 
expected to see again. He was such a student of tlie 
Bible in the original tongues as is rarely seen. He min- 
gled his studies with prayer and praise. Turning his 
lace to the wall and lil'ting up his heart and countenance 
to heaven with his arms clasped al^out his breast, he 
would stand for some time before the Lord in solemn re- 
collection, and again return to his work. He would rise 
at four o'clock to pursue his studies, and on his knees he 
usually studied his Bible. *' A truly laudable and worthy 
study,'* he exclaims, "whereby a man is able to converse 
with God, with hoi}" angels, with patriarchs and proph- 
ets, and clearly to unfold to men the mind of God from 
the language of Gad !"' He would cry out in the midst 
of his studies, --I fain would rest on Thee ! I thirst for 
the divine life. I pray for the Spirit of illumination. I 



132 A HISTORY OF IMETHODISM 

cast my soul upon Jesus Christ, the God of glory, and 
the Redeemer of the world. I desire to be conformable 
unto him — his friend, servant, disciple, and sacrifice." 
When he entered the ministry, his cry was " Lord Jesus ! 
Lord Jesus, I lay my soul at thy feet, to be taught and 
governed by thee ; take the veil from the mystery, and 
show me the truth as it is in thyself; be thou my sun, 
my star by day and by night." He walked thirty miles 
to his first appointment, and preached in a barn to a con- 
gregation in which many mocked while others wept over 
their sins. He preached with great success among the 
Irish, both in English and in Irish, and turned thousands 
to Christ amid the fires of persecution. One who heard 
him said of his sermon that " such a sluice of divine ora- 
tory ran through his language as is rarely to be met with." 
Wesley used to speak of him as " that blessed man," 
and says, "Wherever he preached the word, whether in 
English or Irish, it was sharper than a two-edged sword. 
I do not remember ever to have known a preacher who, 
in so few years as he remained upon earth, was an in- 
strument of converting so many sinners." Nine years 
he worked day and night for Christ and the souls of 
men, and then, with shattered health and a broken con- 
stitution that often brought him into deep religious gloom, 
he entered into the rest and glory of the saints. 

Whitefield had now (1748) arrived from his itinerant 
labors in the West Indies and North America, and again 
carried the torch of the gospel over England and Scot- 
land. 

He found an ardent friend in Lady Humtingdon, who 
wished him to preach at her mansion near London. This 
remarkable woman was a worthy co-laborer with Wesley 
and Whitefield. She had embraced the Calvinistic faith, 
but still she retained her warm regard for Wesley, and 



FOK OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 133 

rejoiced in his success in saving souls and reforming the 
nation. The Countess during a severe spell of sickness 
had thought deeply on religious subjects, and through 
the influence of Lady Margaret Hastings, her sister-in- 
law, had been brought to a strong sj^mpathy with the 
Methodists. The Earl of Huntingdon was much con- 
cerned about his wife's condition and called upon Bishop 
Benson, who had ordained Wliitefield, to trj' and restore 
her to a "saner" state of mind. He failed to do so, and in 
the presence of the Countess expressed his regret that 
he had ever ordained such a man as Whitefield. To this 
she replied, "Mark my words, my lord; when upon your 
dying bed that will be one of the ordinations upon 
which you will reflect with pleasure." 

Her words were fulfilled. When the good Bishop came 
to die, he sent Wliitefield a present of ten guineas, and 
asked an interest in his prayers. 

Lady Huntingdon, after the death of her husband, 
gave herself fully to the work of the Lord. She gave 
away in money to the cause of religion more than half a 
million of dollars. By selling her jewels she raised 
means to build many chapels for the poor. She gave up 
her fine equipage, and discharged her liveried servants, 
that she might have more money for God's cause. She 
bought theatres, halls, and tumble-down chapels in difl'er- 
ent cities, and fitted them up for public worship. She 
travelled a great deal herself, and by her example stirred 
up preachers and people to greater activity and zeal. 
She bought an old castle at Trevecca, in Wales, and had 
it fitted up as a college for the training of preachers, and 
Rev. Joseph Benson, afterwards a leading Wesleyan 
minister and author of a Commentary, was one of the 
instructors. The saintly Fletcher was the first president 
of the institution. Here young men who felt called to 



134 A mSTOEY OF SIETHODISM 

preach, and promised to devote themselves to the work 
of the ministry, either in the Established Church or 
among the Dissenters, were cordially received and pro- 
vided with board, tuition and clothing, at the expense of 
the Countess. 

By her influence the gospel was brought to the hearts 
of many of the nobility of England, and not a few of 
them owned and rejoiced in its saving power. 

This holy woman lived and labored for Christ to her 
eighty-fourth j^ear, and died exclaiming, " My work is 
done. I have nothing to do but to go to my Father." 
She left for charities twenty thousand dollars, and the 
remainder of her fortune to keep up the various chapels 
she had established. 

Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, lives in history as 
one of the holy women of the Church of God. 

Soon after the Conference of 1748, which met at Lon- 
don, Wesley opened or rather enlarged his famous Kings- 
wood school. He had had a school there since 1740, but 
now, having received from a generous lady $4,000 for 
that purpose, he determined to enlarge the institution 
and o'ive it more of an academic form. It was designed 
as a place of instruction for the sons of preachers and 
of those Methodists who were able to give their children 
better training than they could receive in the schools of 
the villages and towns. It is a matter of interest to no- 
tice the object and the rules of this school as Wesley 
gives them. The object was "to train up children in 
every branch of useful learning." Only boarding schol- 
ars were admitted between the years of six and twelve ; 
and they were to be taught reading, writing, arithmetic, 
English, French, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, history, geogra- 
phy, chronology, rhetoric, logic, ethics, geometry, alge- 
bra, physics, and music. A pretty hea^y course for 



FOR OUK YOUNG PEOPLE. 135 

children between the ages of six and twelve. They 
were all to be brought up in the fear of God and at 
the utmost distance from vice in general, so in partic- 
ular from idleness and effeminac}^. "The children of 
tender parents so called," says Wesley, "who are indeed 
offering up their sons and their daughters unto devils, 
have no business here ; for the rules will not be broken 
in favor of any person whatsoever. Nor is any child re- 
ceived unless his parents agree that he shall observe all 
the rules of the house ; and that they will not take him 
from school, no, not a day, till they take him for good 
and all." With Wesley, in regard to his rules, we feel 
sure many will differ. We give them as a matter of his- 
tory, and leave comments to others. 

The Kingswood bill of fare could not be complained 
of. It was solid and good, and ran thus : Bacon, beef, 
and mutton, bread and butter, greens, water gruel, and 
apple dumplings. The pupils went to bed at 8 o'clock, 
and slept on mattresses. They were to rise at 4 o'clock 
the year round, and spend an hour in private, reading, 
singing, meditating, and praying. No play days nor 
playing was allowed, on the ground that he that plays 
when a boy will play when a man. Every healthy child 
was to fast on Friday until three o'clock in the afternoon. 
At five in the morning they had public religious services 
and asfain at seven in the evening^. Breakfast was at 
six ; at seven school began ; at eleven the children walk- 
ed or worked ; at twelve dinner, and then they worked 
in the garden or sang till one. From one till five they 
were again in school ; from five till six was the hour for 
private prayer ; for an hour after they again walked or 
worked. At seven they had supper of bread and butter, 
and milk by turns, and at eight were all put to bed. 
The Sunday exercises were, breakfast at six, at seven 



136 A HISTORY OF ISIETnODISM 

learn hymns or poems, at eight public service, at nine 
attend the parish church, at one dinner, after that sing- 
ing, at two public service again, at four private instruc- 
tion. The whole cost of a scholar for board and tuition 
was seventy dollars a year. 

After the school went into operation on this basis,. 
Wesley complained that his rules were often broken. Is 
it wonderful that they should be ? But still he had rea- 
son to rejoice in the school. The housekeeper wrote to 
him, " The spirit of this family is a resemblance of the 
household above. They are given up to God, and pur- 
sue but the one great end. If God continue to bless us, 
one of these little ones shall chase a thousand." 

Wesley was ever at work preaching, writing, and in- 
structing people and preachers. At Kingswood he col- 
lected seventeen of his preachers, formed them into 
classes, and read them lectures every day during Lent. 
To one class he read Pearson on the Creed, to the other 
Aldrich's Logic, and to both Rules for Action and Utter- 
ance. For the instruction of his people he prepared 
with immense labor " A Christian Library," which con- 
sisted of the choicest pieces of practical divinity pub- 
lished in the English language, and finally reached 
the number of thirty volumes. Wesley worked at this 
huge task everywhere, on horseback, at wayside taverns 
and other places where he tarried for a night. Six years 
he spent in this work, and in the meanwhile wrote his 
Notes on the New Testament, prepared books for his 
Kingswood school, and preached almost daily. Such 
work is almost unparalleled in the history of the Chris- 
tian Church. 

Among the tracts which Wesley published was " Di- 
rections Concerning Pronunciation and Gesture." It 
was meant for his preachers who needed careful in- 



FOR OUIl YOUNG PEOPLE. 137 

struction in public speaking. In this tract Wesley 
says: "A good pronunciation is nothing but a natural, 
easy, and graceful variation of the voice, suitable to the 
nature and importance of the sentiments we deliver. 
The first business of a speaker is so to speak that he 
may be heard and understood with ease." Those whose 
voices are weak are recommended to strengthen them by 
"reading or speaking something aloud for at least half 
an hour every morning." The chief faults of public 
speaking are set down as the speaking too loud, speak- 
ing too low, which Wesley regarded as the worse fault 
of the two ; speaking in a thick, cluttering manner, mum- 
bling and swallowing words and syllables, to cure which 
Demosthenes spoke every day with pebbles in his mouth ; 
the speaking too fast, a common fault, but not a little 
one ; the speaking too slow ; the speaking with an irreg- 
ular, desultory and uneven voice. "The greatest fault 
of all," says Wesley, "is the speaking with a tone — in 
some instances womanish and squeaking ; in others, 
singing or canting ; in others, high, swelling, and thea- 
trical ; in others, awful and solemn ; and in others, odd, 
whimsical, and whining." 

Wesley thought it harder for a man to find out the 
faults of his gestures than of his pronunciation, for the 
reason that he can hear his own voice but cannot see his 
own face. He actually recommends the use of a large 
looking glass after the example of Demosthenes, or bet- 
ter still, to have some good pattern in vieAV. He gave 
quite minute directions as to the motions of the body, 
the head, the face, the eyes, the mouth, the hands. He 
said a speaker should never turn his mouth awry, nor 
bite nor lick his lips, shrug his shoulders, nor lean upon 
his elbow, nor ever clap his hands, nor thump the pulpit. 
He thought the hands should seldom be lifted higher 

10 



138 A niSTor.Y of jietiiodism 

than the eyes, and their perpetual motion be avoided, 
which the ancients called " The babblins; of the hands." 

It would not be amiss if public speakers now would 
give more attention to these rules of Wesley. He was 
himself one of the most forcible and impressive preach- 
ers that ever lived, and while his manner was quiet and 
orderly, his sermons were so powerful that thousands 
fell under them in the awful pangs of conviction. White- 
field was an impassioned orator, but more people fell 
under the calm power of Wesley's sermons than under 
his fiery appeals. 

The Conference of 1749 was held at London in No- 
vember. The chief subject discussed was the possibility 
of making a general union of all the Societies of the 
kino;dom. 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 139 



CHAPTER X[. 

TiiE YEAR 1750 is famous for an earthquake in England, 
and for the great excitement which it caused among the 
people of London and other places. On the 8th of Feb- 
ruary, in the midst of the rush of business, the people of 
London were startled by the shock. One month after, 
a second and more violent one was felt. A few days 
later, another was felt in different parts of the kingdom, 
and the people were almost wild with alarm. A half 
crazy soldier prophecied that on the 4th of April there 
would be a shock which would destroy half of London. 
Many people believed him, and when the time came, the 
open squares of the city were filled with thousands of 
men, women, and children, who had rushed out of the 
houses that they expected to fall to pieces about their 
heads. The}'' spent many hours huddled together in 
groups in utter darkness and under inclement skies wait- 
ing for the predicted doom of the city. Man}^ ran fran- 
tic through the streets expecting every moment to hear 
the blast of the^ last trumpet. Churches and chapels 
were crowded full, while hundreds pressed to the doors 
for admittance. In three da^^'s seven hundred coaches 
were counted full of people flying into the open country. 
Many ladies made themselves woollen gowns in which to 
keep warm while they sat out all night awaiting the 
earthquake and the final judgment. At midnight, in 
darkness intense and surrounded by frightened multi- 
tudes, Whitefield stood on a table in H3^de Park and 
preached a powerful sermon on the general judgment. 

In the midst of the early part of the earthquake ex- 



140 A HISTORY OF METHODISM 

citement Wesley was in London holding fast days and 
watch nights among the Methodists, and striving to calm 
the fears of the people by urging them to trust in the 
living God. 

Wesley now prepared to make another visit to Ire- 
land. He and Christopher Hopper rode on horseback 
across the Welsh mountains to Holyhead, where they 
were to embark. The trip across the mountains was ter- 
rible. Rain fell in torrents, and the wind was so violent 
as nearly to blow them off their horses. In a cottage 
where they rested a few hours, Wesley spent the time in 
translating Aldrich's Logic. At the seaport they met 
John Jane, a noble itinerant, who had set out on his 
work with three shillings in his pocket. Five months af- 
terwards he died exclaiming " I have found the love of 
God in Christ Jesus." All the money he had when he 
died was one shilling and fourpence. "Enough," says 
Wesley, "for an unmarried preacher of the gospel to 
leave to his executors." When Wesley reached Ireland, 
he was met by brutal mobs. One night, as he was 
about to preach in a private house, a drunken crowd 
rushed in, struck the man of the house, kicked his wife, 
and with horrid oaths demanded, "AYhere is the parson?" 
Wesley was in another room, the door of which was 
thrust open, and a burly fellow mounted a chair to look 
for Wesley on the bed tester, but fell heavily to the 
floor and soon left the place. The ruffian rallied his 
men and broke into the house a second time. A young 
girl met him in the passage with a pail of water and 
drenched him from head to foot ; he cried Murder ! mur- 
der ! and, when he found himself locked in, begged pite- 
ously that they would let him out, and gave his word 
that he would take his rabble away. Irish women are 
said to be gifted in quarrelling, and Wesley records a 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 141 

curious experience with two female termagants. They 
talked for three hours until they almost distracted them- 
selves and him. "I perceived," he says, "there was no 
remedy but pra3^er ; so a few of us wrestled with God 
for above two hours." The case was settled by three 
hours' quarrelling by the women and two hours' praying 
by Wesley and his friends — "anger gave place to love, 
and the quarrelsome ladies fell upon each other's neck." 

The violence shown against the Methodists in Ireland 
could hardly be credited, if the statements were not proven 
by credible witnesses. AYesley wrote to a friend in Eng- 
land, " That any of the Methodist preachers are alive is 
a clear proof of an overruling Providence ; for we know 
not when we are safe. A week or two ago, in a time of 
perfect peace, twenty people assaulted one of our preach- 
ers, and a few that were riding with him, near Limerick. 
He asked their captain what they intended to do, who 
calmly answered, 'To murder you!' and accordingl}'' 
presented a pistol, which snapped twice or thrice. Mr. 
Fenwick then rode away. The other pursued, and fired 
after him, but could not overtake him. Three of his 
companions they left for dead." 

But Wesley had reason to rejoice in the work in Ire- 
land. He says many sinners were saved who had been 
famous for wickedness. Many Roman Catholics were 
converted, and some of them became eminent Christians. 

Among the many incidents that Wesley gives of this 
visit we notice, for the special benefit of our young read- 
ers, the following account of a little boy. Of this boy, 
whose name was Richard Hutchinson, his mother gave 
Wesley this account : When he was about four years old 
he began to talk much about God, and to ask many ques- 
tions about him. He grew very serious, and if any one 
swore or used bad words in his presence he would re- 



142 A HISTORY OF ]METHODISM 

prove them. He was much troubled about his brother, 
who was three years older, and would say, "I fear my 
brother will go to hell, for he does not love God." His 
mother cut off his hair, and he said to her, " You cut off 
my hair because you are afraid I shall have the small- 
pox ; but I am not afraid. I am not afraid to die, for I 
love God." Some weeks before he was taken with that 
disease, he sent for some of the members and said he 
must take leave of them, and did so in a very tender and 
affectionate manner. He soon after fell ill, and became 
light headed, but nearly all the time he was repeating 
parts of hymns, uttering short prayers, or exhorting the 
people that came to see him. As he grew worse he 
seemed anxious to go home, and kept saying, "I must 
go home ; I will go home." One said to him, "You are 
at home." He replied, " No, this is not my home. I 
will go to heaven." On the tenth day of his sickness he 
raised himself up and said, "Let me go, let me go to my 
Father ; I will go home ; now, now I will go to my Fa- 
ther." He then lay down, and in a few moments died 
and went home to his Father. 

On returning to England Wesley encountered a furi- 
ous storm, in the midst of which he tried with success 
the power of prayer. Near midnight he was aroused by 
a great noise, and he found that the ship was in a squall 
of wind, thunder and rain. The sailors were at their 
wits' end. They could not see across the ship except 
when the lightning glared. They took in sail and let 
the ship drive. "It was intensely dark," says Wesley, 
" and neither the captain nor any man else knew where 
we were ; only that we were tossing in a narrow channel 
full of shoals, and rocks, and sands. But does not God 
hear the prayer? [They had prayed in the earlier part 
of the passage, and the storm had calmed.] Mr. Hopper 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 143 

and I believed it our duty to make the trial again ; and 
in a very few moments the wind was small, the sea fell, 
and the clouds dispersed ; so we put up a little sail, and 
went on quietly and slowly till the morning dawned." 
Wesley was a man of prayer, and he believed in it for 
everything. In the midst of this storm he says it was 
much on his mind, " They cried unto the Lord in their 
trouble, and he delivered them out of their distress." 
"I knew not," he saj^s, "why we should not call upon 
him as well as they." 

Wesle}^ found the work spreading on every side when 
he reached England. He at once began his work of 
preaching and inspecting the Societies. At one place he 
preached in a meadow, "full ol people from side to side, 
and many stood in the gardens and orchards round." 
At Shaftsbury a Constable came to him and said, " Sir, 
the mayor discharges you from preaching in this borough 
any more." Wesley's reply was, "While King George 
gives me leave to preach, I shall not ask leave of the 
mayor of Shaftsbury." 

In the year 1751 John Wesle}^ was married. He had 
remained single, he said, because he believed that he 
could be more useful in a single than in a married state. 
He now thought he could be more useful as a married 
man, and so deciding he entered upon what proved to be 
a very stormy married life with a woman every way un- 
worthy of such a man. The woman was a Mrs. Vazeille, 
and the period of the courtship seems to have been very 
brief. AYesley was to set out on one of his long preach- 
ing tours to the North of England, but the day before he 
was to start he slipped on the ice while crossing London 
Bridge and severely sprained and bruised one of his legs. 
He went into the church and preached, and tried to 
preach again at night, but the pain was so great he was 



144 A HISTORY OF lilETHODISM 

unable to do so. He then went to the house of Mrs. Ya- 
zeille, where he spent a week or more, "partly," he says, 
" in pra3^er, reading, conversation, and partly in writing 
a Hebrew grammar, and Lessons for Children. He had 
known this lady for some time, and she had been recom- 
mended to him by some of his ardent friends, as a per- 
son who would make him a suitable wife. The Sun- 
day after he was " carried to the Foundery and preached 
kneeling ;" and a day or two after, while still a cripple, 
he was married to Mrs. Vazeille, she being forty-one and 
"Wesley forty-eight years old. He preached again seve- 
ral times during the week on his knees. " This," says 
Mr. Tyerman, " was an odd beginning — the bridegroom 
crippled, and, instead of making a wedding tour, preach- 
ing on his knees in London chapels." Two weeks after- 
wards he went off to Bristol to hold a Conference, leav- 
ing his wife at home. After the session he returned to 
London, and after six days set out for Scotland. It was 
at this time he wrote in his Journal, " I cannot under- 
stand how a Methodist preacher can answer it to God, to 
preach one sermon, or travel one day less, in a married 
than in a single state. In this respect, surely, 'it re- 
maineth that they who have wives be as though they had 
none.' " Wesley's wife travelled with him for a while, 
but she soon grew tired of such a life, and instead of be- 
ing a help became an actual torment to him. She had a 
stubborn will and a high temper, and was cruelly jealous 
of him ; after an unhappy union of twenty years, she 
left his house never to return. Wesley had tried in 
every way to make her a good and useful woman, and a 
proper wife, but all his efforts, as well as those of his 
friends, were fruitless — so when she left him, he entered 
in his Journal, "January 23, 1771. For what cause I 
know not, my wife set out for Newcastle, purposing never 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 145 

to return. I did not forsake Iter, I did not dismiss her, I 
icill not recall her,'' — and he never did. And thus closed 
a long and sorrowful episode in the life of this good and 
great man. 

This year, 1751, Wesley for the first time visited Scot- 
land. He went to Edinburgh, which he described, as 
*'one of the dirtiest cities he had ever seen." He 
preached several times with some success, and returned 
to England leaving Christopher Hopper to preach to the 
Scots. Methodism did not succeed among the Scottish 
people as it did in Ireland and England. Charles Wes- 
le3^ said he talked with a preacher who had preached 
many weeks without seeing one soul converted. White- 
field said to Wesley, "You have no business in Scotland. 
Your principles are so well known that, if 3^ou spoke like 
an angel, none would hear you ; and if they did, you 
would have nothing to do but to dispute with one and 
another from morning to night." To this Wesley re- 
plied, "If God sends me, people will hear. And I will 
give them no provocation to dispute ; for I will studi- 
ously avoid all controverted points, and keep to the fun- 
damental truths of Christianity. And if any still begin 
to dispute, they may ; but I will not dispute with them." 
Wesley continued his work, and Methodism was at last 
successful in Scotland, though not to the extent which 
attended it in other countries. 

Cornwall was a favorite section of England for Meth- 
odism, and Wesley gave it much of his labor. At some 
places the behavior of the people under the force of ex- 
ample, even from the parsons of the Established Church, 
was of the most outrageous character. At Tiverton he 
went to hear a sermon, but "such insufferable noise and 
confusion he never saw before in a place of worship ; no, 
not even in a Jewish synagogue. The clergy set the ex- 



146 A mSTOPtY OF IMETHODISM 

ample, laughing and talking during great part both of 
the prayers and sermon." The next day Wesley preach- 
ed, and a rabble came with horns, drums and fifes, and 
made all the noise they could. They caught a poor 
chimney sweeper, supposing he was a Methodist, carried 
him off and beat him nearly to death. The worthy mayor 
of the place swore that there was no need of a new reli- 
gion in Tiverton. He said, "There is the old church 
and the new church ; that is one religion. Then there is 
parson K — 's, at the Pitt meeting, and parson W — 's, in 
Peter Street, and old parson T — 's, at the meeting in 
Newport Street, — four ways of going to heaven already ; 
enough in all conscience ; and if the people won't go to 
heaven by one or the other of these ways — they shan't 
go to heaven at all while I am mayor of Tiverton.'' 

But notwithstanding the purpose of the mayor of Tiv- 
erton, many did determine to try to go to heaven by the 
Methodist way. 

In the year 1752, Whitefield returned from America, 
and set about the work of building his famous Taberna- 
cle in Moorfields. It was completed in due course of 
time, and became the headquarters of Calvinistic Meth- 
odism as the Foundery was of Arminian Methodism. 

Among the itinerants of Wesley some signs of discon- 
tent began to appear by reason, probably, of too free 
talk about one another. To stop the spread of ill-feeling 
in the very opening of the year, the following rules were 
drawn up and signed by Wesley and a number of his 
preachers : "1. That we will not listen to, or willingly 
inquire after any ill concerning each other. 2. That, if 
we do hear any ill of each other, we will not be forward 
to believe it. 3. That, as soon as possible, we will com- 
municate what we hear, by speaking or writing to the 
person concerned. 4. That, till we have done this, we 



FOR our. YOUNG PEOPLE. 147 

will not write or speak a syllable of it to any other per- 
son whatever. 5. That, neither will we mention it, after 
we have done this, to any other person. 6. That we will 
not make any exception to any of these rules, unless we 
think ourselves absolutely obliged in conscience to do 
so." 

These are noble rules. How many disputes, ruinous 
to brotherly charity and the peace of the church, might 
be avoided by following the example of Wesley and his 
preachers. 

Wesley was a very calm speaker, and not a loud one, 
we should think, as he says that when he preached out 
of doors at Birstal he was heard distinctly by persons 
who were one hundred and forty yards distant. At 
Wakefield he preached to a serious people, and said, 
"Who would have expected to see me preaching in 
Wakefield church, to so attentive a congregation, when, 
a few years ago, all the people were as roaring lions ? 
and the honest man did not dare to let me preach in his 
yard, lest the mob should pull down his houses." 

At Hull he preached to " a huge multitude, rich and 
poor, horse and foot, with several coaches." Thousands 
listened well, "but man}'- behaved as if possessed by 
Moloch." Clods and stones flew on every side. A lady 
invited Wesley and his wife into her carriage, in which 
there were already seven persons. "There were nine of 
us in the coach," says Wesley, " three on each side and 
three in the middle. The mob closely attended us, 
throwing in at the windows whatever came next to hand ; 
but a large gentlewoman, who sat in my lap, screened me, 
so that nothing came near me." When they reached 
their lodgings the windows were smashed, and until late 
in the night the mob howled and cursed and threw stones 
and brickbats against the house. 



148 A HISTORY OF IVIETHODISM 

This year, 1752, Wesley again visited Ireland and held 
his first Irish Conference. There were ten preachers 
present, and as there had been some expression of doc- 
trine not in agreement with Wesleyan theology, it was 
resolved to employ no man in future as a helper unless 
he " thoroughly agreed to both Methodist doctrine and 
discipline." It was also decided that if a man could not 
preach twice a day he should be only a local preacher — 
that the congregations must alwaj^s kneel in prayer, and 
stand in sing^ino; and while the text was read, and must 
be serious and silent while the service lasted, and when 
coming and going away. 

The preachers were to have at least $40 a year, and, 
if possible, $50 a year for clothing ; and the latter sum 
was allowed for each preacher's wife. Preachers were to 
preach often on fasting, and were to practice it, if health 
allowed, every Friday. They were to avoid luxury and 
idleness, and were to spend one hour every day in secret 
prayer. 

Among the six preachers admitted at the Irish Confe- 
rence was Philip Guier, whose name is associated with 
American Methodism. In the neighborhood of Ballin- 
gran a number of Germans "Yrom the Palatinate on the 
Rhine had settled, and though they were at first a sober 
and steady people, yet, having no service in their own 
language, they fell into the worst habits and became a 
swearing, drunken, and wholly irreligious community. 
One man among them remained faithful ; this was Philip 
Guier. He was their school teacher, and by him Philip 
Embury, who introduced Methodism into America, was 
taught to read and write. He was also the instrument 
of leading that remarkable man, Thomas Walsh, to the 
knowledge of Jesus. Guier was appointed a local 
preacher among the Palatines ; he maintained himself 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 149 

by his school, but gave all the time he could spare to the 
work of preaching. He was greatly beloved by his peo- 
ple, and after the lapse of a hundred years his name is 
familiar to the descendants of the old German settlers. 
As the circuit preacher now jogs along in that part of 
Ireland he is greeted with the cry, " There goes Philip 
Guier, who drove the devil out of Ballingran !" This 
good man reformed his people by his earnest and faith-' 
ful labors, and when he died Wesley said of him, "He 
was a father to the German Societies, loving and cher- 
ishing them as his own children. He retained all his 
faculties to the last, and after two da3^s' illness went to 
God." 

Wesley opened the year 1753 by carefully inspecting 
the prisons in London. Of the Marshalsea prison, in 
which debtors were confined, he wrote, "A nursery of 
all manner of wickedness. O shame to man, that there 
should be such a picture of hell upon earth ! And shame 
to those who bear the name of Christ, that there should 
be any prison in all Christendom." The scenes he saw 
among the sick, poor, and the prisoners, were really sick- 
ening, and it was to such that Wesley went as an angel 
of mercy. "Who," he asks, "could see such scenes un- 
moved?" If any of the Indians in Georgia were sick, 
those that were near them gave them whatever they 
wanted. Oh, who will convert the English into honest 
heathen ! I found some in their cells under ground ; 
others in their garrets half starved with cold and hunger ; 
^but I found not one of them unemployed who was able 
to crawl about the room. So wickedly, devilishly false 
is that common objection, 'They are poor, only because 
they are idle.' If you saw these things with your own 
eyes, could you lay out money in ornaments and super- 
fluities?" 



150 A iiisTonY OF :methodism 

Wesle}^ was always ready to turn everything to good 
account, and to make it help him in his great work. 
Scientific men had lately been called to the study of 
electricity by the experiments of Dr. Franklin. Wesley 
gave the subject much careful thought, and believing 
that electricity was a valuable remedial agent, he pro- 
cured an apparatus and began to electrify persons for 
various disorders. His patients increased in number, 
and while in London he spent an hour every day in try- 
ing "the virtue of this surprising medicine." He says, 
"Hundreds, perhaps thousands, have received unspeaka- 
ble good ; and I have not known one man, woman or 
child who has received any hurt thereby ; so that when 
I hear any speak of the danger of being electrified (es- 
pecially if they are medical men who talk so), I cannot 
but impute it to great want either of sense or honest3^ 
We know it is a thousand medicines in one ; in particu- 
lar, that it is the most efficacious medicine in nervous 
diseases of ever}^ kind which has ever been discovered." 

It is remarkable that Wesley gave his preachers ad- 
vice about preaching that he seldom took himself. In a 
letter to a friend he says, "It is a constant rule with us 
that no preacher should preach above twice a day, unless 
on Sunday or some extraordinary time ; then he may 
preach three times. We know that nature cannot long 
bear the preaching oftener than this, and, therefore, to 
do it is a degree of self-murder. Those of the preach- 
ers who would not follow this advice have all repented 
when it was too late. I likewise advise all our preachers, 
not to preach above an hour at a time, prayer and all, — 
and not to speak louder than the number of hearers re- 
quires. You may show this to all our preachers, and any 
that desire it may take a copy of it." 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 151 



CHAPTER XII. 

The Conference of 1753 was held at Leeds in May. 
Two clergymen of the Church besides Wesley, twenty- 
five itinerant and sixteen local preachers, were present. 
The question was asked, "Does every one know the ex- 
act time when he was justified?" The answer was, "It 
is possible he may not know what to call it, when he ex- 
periences this ; especially if he has not been accustomed 
to hfear the scriptural doctrine concernino; it. And the 
change then wrought in some may not be so sudden, or 
so observable as it is in others. But, generally, wherever 
the gospel is preached in a clear and scriptural manner, 
more than ninety -nine in a hundred do know the exact time 
when they are justified." It was resolved to preach 
strongly and closely on inward and outward holiness ; 
also to discourage the marriage of Methodists with un- 
believers. It was fully determined that in future all 
who were guilty of Sabbath breaking, dram drinking, 
evil speaking, unprofitable conversation, lightness, and 
contracting debts without a probability of paying them, 
should be put out of Society. There were twelve cir- 
cuits supplied by the two Wesleys and thirty -seven help- 
ers. After the Conference closed, Wesley began his work 
anew, and in three days preached ten or more sermons, 
until by the enormous labor his voice began to fail him ; 
but he moved on, saying in his weakness to a friend, "I 
hope my life, rather than my tongue, says, I desire only 
to spend and be spent in the work." 

Hard work told on the great worker. In November 
he was seized with a cold which left him with a " pain in 



152 A HISTORY OF IiIETnODISM 

his left breast, a violent cough, and a slow fever." His 
physician required him to leave the city and go into 
the country, saying, good Quaker as he was, "If any- 
thing does thee good, it must be the country air, with 
rest, asses' milk, and riding daily." He was at once re- 
moved to the house of Mr. Ebenezer Blackwell at Lewis- 
ham, where he remained for five weeks. On the evening 
of the arrival he composed his epitaph. "Not knowing," 
he says, " how it might please God to dispose of me, to 
prevent vile panegyric, I wrote as follows : 

Here lieth the Body 

of 

John Wesley, ' 

A Brand plucked out of the burning ; 

Who died of a Consumption in the Fifty-first year 

Of his Age, 

not leaving, after his Debts are paid, 

Ten Pounds behind him : 

Praying, 

" God be merciful to me an unprofitable servant." 

He ordered that this, if au}^, inscription should be 

placed on his tombstone. 

The news of Wesley's illness spread through the coun- 
try, and awakened the deepest sympathy. Charles hur- 
ried to see him, and found him better, but thought him 
"still in imminent danger, being far gone, and very sud- 
denly, in a consumption." When he returned to London 
he preached at the Foundery on the power of prayer, 
and said he believed if his brother was raised up it would 
be in answer to the prayer of faith. As soon as White- 
field heard of it, he wrote to his old friend, "If seeing 
you so weak when leaving London distressed me, the 



FOR our. YOUXCr PEOPLE. 153 

Dews and prospect of your approaching dissolution have 
quite weighed me down. I pity myself and the church, 
but not you. A radiant throne awaits you, and ere long 
you will enter into your Master's joy. Yonder he stands 
with a massy crown, ready to put it on your head amidst 
an admiring throng of saints and angels ; but I, poor I, 
who have been waiting for my dissolution these nineteen 
years, must be left behind. Well ! this is my comfort, it 
cannot be long ere the chariot will be sent even for worth- 
less me. If prayers can detain them, even j^ou, reverend 
and very dear sir, shall not leave us yet ; but if the de- 
cree is gone forth, that you must now fall asleep in Jesus, 
may he kiss your soul away, and give jou. to die in the 
embraces of triumphant love. If in the land of the dy- 
ing, I hope to pa}^ my respects to 3''ou next week. If 
not, reverend and dear sir, F-a-r-e-w-e-11 !" 

In this touching letter, the great evangelist seemed to 
think only of his dying friend. They had differed in 
opinion on doctrines, but now as the one appeared to be 
nearing the heavenly land, the heart of the other poured 
out its love in words of surpassing tenderness. On the 
same day on which he wrote this letter to Wesley he said 
to another friend, " The phj-sicians think Mr. John Wes- 
ley's disease is a galloping consumption. I pity the 
church, I pity myself, but not him. We must stay be- 
hind in this cold climate, whilst he takes his flight to a 
radiant throne. Lord, if it be Thy blessed will, let not 
Thy chariot-wheels be long in coming." 

But the work of John Wesley was far from being done, 
and, contrary to the sad expectation of his friends, he 
gradually regained his health. 

In the opening of the year 1754 he was at the Bristol 
Hot wells, feeble but gaining strength daily, and even 
hard at work. The first Sunday of this year he began 

11 



154 A inSTORY OF JIETHODISM 

writing his "Notes on the New Testament," — "a work," 
he says, " which I should scarce ever have attempted had 
I not been so ill as not to be able to travel and preach, 
and yet so well as to be able to read and write." Weak 
as he was, he spent sixteen hours a day on this work. 
In ten weeks the translation, and the notes on the gos- 
pels, were completed. He went to the village of Pad- 
dington, near London, and spent nearly three months in 
writing. Several months Wesley spent in much needed 
retirement and silence. In the Spring he" began to 
preach occasionally, but he was not what he had been, 
and writes with a shade of sadness, "I have not recover- 
ed my whole voice or strength ; perhaps I never may, but 
let me use what I liave." Wesley could not be an idle 
man. He was a worker, and a plain, earnest one too. 
In regard to a good style in writing and speaking, he 
said: "What is it that constitutes a good style? Per- 
spicuity, purity, propriety, strength, and easiness joined 
together. When one of these is wanting, it is not a good 
style. As for me, I never think of my style at all ; but 
just set down the words that come first. Only when I 
transcribe anything for the press, then I think it my duty 
to see that every phrase be clear, pure and proper. Con- 
ciseness, which is now, as it were, natural to me, brings 
quantum sufficit of strength. If, after all, I observe any 
stiff expression, I throw it out, neck and shoulders. 
Clearness, in particular, is necessary for you and me ; 
because we are to instruct people of the lowest under- 
standing. We should constantly use the most common, 
little, easy words (so they are pure and proper) which 
our language affords. When I had been a member of 
the university about ten years, I wrote and talked much 
as you do now. But when I talked to plain people in 
the castle, or the town, I observed they gaped and stared 



FOR OUK YOUNG PEOPLE. 155 

— this quickly obliged me to alter my style, and adopt 
the language of those I spoke to. And yet there is a 
dignity in this simplicity which is not disagreeable to 
those of the hio^hest rank." 

Wesley was an example of his own rule to his preach- 
ers, "never be unemploj^ed, never be triflingly employ- 
ed." To one who wrote for advice as to his studies, he 
said, " I suppose you to rise not later than five ; to allow 
an hour in the morninsi; and another in the evenino^ for 
private exercises ; an hour before dinner and another in 
the afternoon for walking ; and to go to bed between 
nine and ten." 

Wesley was in a very feeble state of health nearly the 
whole of the 3'ear 1754, but he crowded as much of rid- 
ing, preaching and writing into it as most men would do 
in full health. 

In the Spring of 1755 he set out on one of his long 
preaching tours. In his journey he visited Rev. William 
Baddiley, who, like Grimshaw, had formed a number of 
Societies, and employed several lay preachers to help 
him in his work. Just before Wesley came to his house, 
one of his daughters had died, and Wesle}^ was asked to 
conduct her funeral. In the course of his sermon he had 
occasion to refer to the passage, "There is a time to 
dance," and said, "I know no such time, except it be a 
time analogous to that in which David danced before the 
ark" — and he added, " Be careful that you do not dance 
j^ourselves into hell." This remark gave great offence to 
some lovers of dancing, and to spite the Methodists they 
at once established a dancing school. They met at the 
village ale-house, and the only child of the keeper, a lit- 
tle boy, was much distressed when the fiddling and danc- 
ing began. He cried and said, "I'll not stay here ; I'll 
go home." He ran away into the fields, and when some 



156 A HISTORY OF :methodism 

one met him and asked where he was going, he said, 
*'Home." At the next dance he was shut up in the 
kitchen for safety, but he got out and was afterwards 
found dead in the river. 

Until this j^ear Wesley had never visited Liverpool. 
That famous city at that time merely skirted the river 
Mersey, and the Methodists were a feeble folk worship-^ 
ping in a .poor chapel in a dirty street. Forty years af- 
ter this visit of Wesley matters had not improved much. 
Adam Clarke was the preacher, and spoke of his house 
as being "' neither in hell nor purgatory, jet in a place of 
torment." "But where is it?" asked his friend. *'You 
must go," said he, " down Dale street, then along East 
street, and when joii are up to the middle in clay and 
mud, call out lustily for Adam Clarke." 

Methodists must never despise the day of small things. 
In this great city Methodism is -now rich and powerful. 

The Conference for this year was held at Leeds. It 
was the largest that had been held. There were sixty- 
three preachers present. The Conference discussed the 
question of separation from the Church, and on the third 
day, after much serious thought and talk, it was agreed 
that "whether lawful or not, it was not expedient." At 
the close of the Conference, Wesley spoke very plainly 
to his preachers. It had been said that they were not 
as much alive in religion as they had been. He said he 
had reason to fear it was the case with some of them, 
and to stir them up he addressed to them some pointed 
questions. "Who of you," asked the great leader, "is 
exemplarily alive to G-od, so as to carry fire with him 
wherever he goes? Who of joii is a pattern of self-de- 
nial even in little things? Who of 3^ou drinks water? 
Why not? Who rises at four? Why not? Who fasts 
on Friday? Why not? Who has not four meals a day? 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 157 

Who goes through his work willingly and diligently? 
never on any account disappointing a congregation? 
Who has ever}'' part of the plan at heart? Who preach- 
es the old thundering doctrine, No faith without light? 
Who constantly and zealously enforces practical reli- 
gion? relative duties? recommends books? Who is 
never idle? Is your whole heart in the work? Do not 
you give way to unconcern, indolence, and fear of 
man?" 



158 A HISTORY OF :methodism 



CHAPTER Xin. 

The year 1755 was one of trouble to Methodists. The 
great question that agitated them was. Shall we separate 
from the Established Church? There had been a grow- 
ing dissatisfaction among them for years ; in many in- 
stances they had been repelled from the sacramental ta- 
bles in the Establishment, and were forced to the alter- 
native of receiving the communion in the Dissenting 
Chapels, or of omitting it altogether. Charles Wesley 
was a rigid churchman, and was horrified at the idea of 
the Methodist preachers being authorized to administer 
the Lord's Supper, Some of the ablest of the Wesleyan 
preachers, such as Thomas \Yalsh and Joseph Cownley, 
contended that the Methodists were entitled to the sa- 
craments of the Christian church. 

The whole question was discussed for three da^^s in 
the Conference, and it was decided "that whether it was 
lawful or not, it was not expedient for the Methodists to 
separate from the Established Church." 

The arguments in favor of separation AVesley confesses 
he could not answer to his own satisfaction, and he de- 
clared it as his conviction that rather than give up open 
air preaching, extemporaneous prayer, forming regular 
Societies, and the sending of unordained men to preach, 
he would leave the Church of England. 

Having settled, at least for a time, the vexed question 
of separation, Wesley went on with his great work of 
writing and preaching. Whitefield came from America, 
and renewed his work in England with his undying fer- 
vor. "The poor, despised Methodists," he says, -are 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 159 

as lively as ever ; and, iu several churches, the gospel is 
now preached with power." lie met with Wesley in 
London, and says, "Disputings are now no more; we 
love one another, and join hand in hand to promote the 
cause of our common Master." 

Near the close of this year a man appeared in England 
who was destined to fill a high place in the history of 
Methodism. John Fletcher was born at Nyon, Switzer- 
land; September 12, 1729, of a distinguished family. He 
was educated at Geneva, and at an early age became an 
accurate scholar in lan^uasres and other liberal studies. 
He was designed for the ministrj^ but he determined to 
become a soldier and entered the army of Portugal as a 
captain. After a brief military life, he went to England 
and was employed as tutor in the family of Thomas Hill, 
Esq., of Shroj^shire. He was converted in 1755, and two 
3^ears afterwards took orders in the Church of England. 
In his first charge he found "too much time and too little 
labor," and took Madeley parish, which gave him only 
half as much as Dunham which he had resigned. Here 
he met at first the severest opposition from the ungodly 
gentry and the poor, rude parishioners. But he went on 
in his work with a zeal, gentleness and love that finally 
bore down all opposition. His generositj^ to the poor 
almost exceeds belief. He stinted himself that he might 
feed them ; he wore the cheapest clothing that he might 
clothe them ; he kept his house bare that he might sup- 
pi}^ comforts to the suffering families of his parish. It is 
not wonderful that his people learned to love him and to 
look upon his visits as those of an angel of God. In 
1770, at the request of Lady Huntingdon, betook charge 
of her College at Trevecca. Joseph Benson, vrlio was 
associated with him in the school, has drawn a portrait 
of Fletcher in the following words : " The reader will 



160 A HISTORY OF JVIETIIODISM 

pardon me if he thinks I exceed ; my heart kindles while 
1 write. 

"Here it was that I saw, shall I say, an angel in human 
flesh. I should not far exceed the truth if I said so. 
But here I saw a descendant of fallen Adam so fully 
raised above the ruins of the fall, that though by the 
body he was tied down to earth, yet was his whole con- 
versation in heaven ; yet was his life Jiid with Christ in 
God. Prayer, praise, love, and zeal, all ardent, elevated 
above what one would think attainable in this state of 
frailty, were the elements in which he continually lived. 
Languages, arts, sciences, grammar, rhetoric, logic, even 
divinity itself, as it is called, were all laid aside when he 
appeared in the school room among the students. And 
they seldom hearkened long before they were all in tears, 
and every heart caught fire from the flame that burned 
in his soul." Oh, what a man he must have been to 
merit such a tribute ! Wesley truly had help from God 
when Fletcher came, led by the Divine hand, and cast in 
his lot with the Methodists. 

The first of November, 1755, the city of Lisbon, in 
Portugal, was nearly destroyed by an earthquake. In 
six minutes a large portion of the city was destroyed, 
and 60,000 persons were killed. The year previous 
Whitefield had visited this place on his way to America, 
and staid there nearly a month. It is a city where the 
Roman Catholics hold supreme rule, and at that day they 
indulged in shows and processions perhaps beyond what 
they do now. Whitefield wrote an account of what he 
saw. The following is a description of a Good Friday 
procession given by Tyerman in his life of Wesley from 
Whitefield' s pamphlet : 

" One of these was led by three popish dignitaries in 
scarlet clothes, followed by two little boys with wiugs 



FOR OJJR YOUXG PEOPLE. 161 

fixed on their shoulders to make them resemble angels. 
Then came several images of St. Francis ; then an im- 
age of our Saviour, with long black hair, and dressed in 
a purple gown ; and then the virgin mother, to whom St. 
Francis rendered homage. After this, followed a mitred 
cardinal gaudily attired ; a gorgeous friar under a splen- 
did canop3^ ; and then a long train of fat Franciscans. 
Another procession consisted of nearly two hundred 
penitents, all clothed in white, their faces veiled, their 
feet bare, and chains fastened to their ankles ; some 
having on their backs great stones ; others carrying in 
their hands dead men's bones and skulls ; some bearing 
upon their shoulders a heavy cross ; and most lashing 
themselves with cords, or beating themselves with iron 
rods. In one of the churches, Whitefield found a solid 
silver altar of several yards circumference, and about 
twelve steps high. In another, he met with a golden 
altar, of nearly the same dimensions, its base studded 
with precious stones, each step lit up with large lighted 
silver candlesticks, and the top adorned with silver im- 
ao;es of auo;els. In a laro;e church, belonsiinf^ to the con- 
vent of St. De Beato, he mingled with many thousands 
in witnessing what was meant to be a representation of 
the crucifixion of the Son of God. Upon a high scaffold 
were three full-sized figures of the blessed Saviour and 
of the crucified malefactors. At a little distance was 
the holy Virgin, in long ruffles and widow's weeds, her 
face veiled with purple silk, and her head encircled with 
a crown of glory. At the foot of the Saviour's cross, 
lay, in a mournful posture, a living man, dressed in wo- 
man's clothes, personating Mary Magdalene ; while near 
at hand was a younger man, arrayed in a bob-wig and a 
green silk vesture, representing the apostle John. On 
each side, stood two sentinels in bufi; with formidable 



162 A HISTORY OF 3IETII0DISM 

caps and beards ; and, directly in front, a personation of 
the Roman centurion, with a large target in his hand. 
From behind the purple hangings came twenty purple- 
vested boys, all wearing golden caps, and adorned with 
wings, and each one bearing a lighted taper iii his hand. 
Opposite to the stage, a black friar, mounted in a pulpit, 
preached a sort of fifteen minutes' sermon. Then came 
four long-bearded men, two of them carrying a ladder, 
and the other two, as the representatives of Nicodemus 
and Joseph of Arimathsea, bearing large gilt dishes filled 
with spices. Amid great ceremony, the body of the Sa- 
viour was taken down ; Mary Magdalene wrapped the 
feet in her wide-spread handkerchief ; the beloved disci- 
ple clasped the corpse to his loving heart ; shrouded in 
linen, it was carried round the churchyard in grand pro- 
cession ; and then, followed by the Virgin, Mary Magda- 
lene, and St. John, and b}^ a whole troop of friars, bear- 
ing wax tapers in their hands, was conducted to an open 
sepulchre, and buried. Thus ended the Good Friday's 
superstitious tragedy in the far famed Lisbon. A year 
and a half afterwards Lisbon was a heap of ruins." 

Wesley was requested to write on this great calamity, 
and did so in a tract called " Serious Thoughts on the 
Earthquake at Lisbon." It was an eloquent and stirring 
production, and had a large sale. Wesley also published 
a sm^all tract on a " Catholic Spirit," which really con- 
tained the principles of an evangelical alliance, showing 
that the great Methodist leader was so far in advance, of 
his age as to stand upon the very ground on which Chris- 
tians are now gathering in their much lauded alliances. 
If he found a man whose creed embraced a belief in the 
Trinity in Unity, love to God and man, and the practice 
of good works, he was ready to hail him as a Christian 
and a brother. lie would not urge him to receive his 



FOR our. YOUNG PEOPLE. 163 

opinions nor to conform to his modes of worship. All 
he asked was, "If thine heart be as my heart, on the 
three great points named, give me thy hand." 

Wesley's Notes on the New Testament were published 
in a qnarto volume with his portrait. Of this portrait 
he gives this account : 

"In 1744, while I was shaving, John Downes [one of 
his itinerants] was whittling the top of a stick. I asked, 
what are you doing? He answered, 'I am taking your 
face, which I intend to engrave on a copperplate.' Ac- 
cordingly, without any instruction, he first made himself 
tools, and then engraved the plate. The second picture 
which he engraved was that which was prefixed to the 
' Notes on the New Testament.' Such another instance, 
I suppose, not all England, or perhaps Europe, can pro- 
duce.'' 

This portrait of Wesleji^ was pronounced one of the 
best that had ever been executed. Wesley said his 
Notes were written "chiefly for plain, unlettered men, 
who understand only their mother tongue, and yet rever- 
ence and love the word of God, and have a desire to save 
their souls.'' In reference to the translation of the ori- 
ginal text, he says he "never altered for altering's sake, 
but only when, first, the sense was made better, stronger, 
clearer, or more consistent with the context, and, second- 
1}^ where, the sense being equally good, the phrase was 
better or nearer the original." 

The great-commentator, Dr. Adam Clarke, says of the 
work, "Though short, the notes are always judicious, ac- 
curate, spiritual, terse and impressive ; and possess the 
happy and rare property of leading the reailer immedi- 
ately to God and his own heart." 

The spirit of the Methodist preachers of the early days 
is shown by a remark of Whiteficld when his doctor pre- 



164 A inSTORY OF JSIETIIODISM 

scribed for an attack of quinsy, " a perpetual blister ;" 
the great preacher objected, saying he found a better re- 
medy in "perpetual preaching." 

He began to preach in a Dissenting chapel in London ; 
the bishop of the diocese forbade him, but he persisted. 
A mob in which the bishop's vestry was represented 
met, and with "bells, drums, clappers, marrow bones, 
and cleavers, made a dreadful uproar to drown the 
preacher's voice. The windows were smashed by stones 
hurled at Whitefield's head. So far from being intimi- 
dated by these outrages, Whitefield at once began a new 
chapel, and in a few da3^s he had raised $3,000 for the 
purpose. The chapel was called by a facetious doctor, 
"Whitefield's Soul Trap." 

Wesley at this time, 1756, had a correspondence with 
a man of good parts and high position as a preacher who 
afterwards came to a sad end. This was Dr. William 
Dodd, who attracted great crowds to his church in Lon- 
don. He wrote to Wesley on the subject of Christian 
Perfection, who replied, "When I began to make the 
Scriptures my study (about seven and twenty j^ears ago), 
I began to see that Christians are called to love God 
with all their heart, and to serve him with all their 
strength ; which is precisely what I apprehend to be 
meant by the scriptural term, 'perfection.'" Again he 
sa3^s in another letter: "That the term 'perfection' is a 
scriptural term, is undeniable. Tlierefore none ought to 
object to the use of the term, whatever they may do to 
this or that application of it. I still think, that perfec- 
tion is only another term for holiness, or the image of 
God in man. God made man perfect, I think, is just the 
same as He made him Jioly, or in His oivn image. Now, 
tliis perfection does certainly admit of degrees. There- 
fore, I readily allow the propriety of that distinction, 



FOR OJJR YOUNG PEOPLE. 165 

perfection of kinds, and perfection of degrees. Nor do 
I remember one writer, ancient or modern, who excepts 
against it. I never meant any more by perfection than 
the loving God with all our heart, and serving Him 
with all our strength. But I dare not say less than 
this." 

We must pass from this to a subject quite different, 
but showing Wesley to be as ardent a patriot as he was 
a Christian. War with France was expected, and the 
whole countr}^ was in excitement. Wesley actually wrote 
to the authorities offering "to raise for his majesty's ser- 
vice, at least two hundred volunteers, to be supported by 
contributions among themselves." There was no need 
for Wesley's volunteers, as the French invasion did not 
occur. 

Wesle}'- made a visit to Ireland this j^ear, and vigor- 
ously pushed forward the work of Methodism. He vis- 
ited the Palatines, and was greatly pleased with their 
piety and industry. "By their diligence," he sa3^s, "they 
turned all their land into a garden." But dark days 
came upon these good people, and many of them sought 
homes across the ocean. Four years after this date a 
company of these people sailed for America, and among 
them were Philip Embury and Barbara Heck, two names 
forever associated with the planting of Methodism in 
America. 

Wesley spent nineteen weeks in Ireland, and in Au- 
gust returned to England and met his preachers in Con- 
ference at Bristol. 

They reconsidered the rules of Society, which were read 
one by one, and they agreed to abide by them, " and to 
recommend them with all their might." The troublesome 
question of "Keeping in the Church," came up, and as 
at the previous Conference they decided not to break 



166 A mSTOHY OF 3IETH0DISM 

from the Establishment. But it must be known that 
while Wesley proposed "never to separate" from the 
Church, he did not believe the episcopal form of church 
government to be prescribed in the Bible. On this sub- 
ject he said in a letter to a friend: "I still believe the 
episcopal form of church government to be scriptural 
and apostolical. I mean well agreeing with the practice 
and writings of the apostles. But, that it is prescribed 
in Scripture, I do not believe. This opinion, which I 
once zealously espoused, I have been heartily ashamed 
of ever since I read Bishop Stillingfleet's *Irenicon.' I 
think he has unanswerably shown, that neither Christ 
nor His apostles prescribe any particular form of church 
government ; and, that the plea of Divine right for dio- 
cesan episcopacy was never heard of in the primitive 
church." 

A number of Wesley's friends and advisers, with Chas. 
Wesley at their head, wished to liave the Methodist 
preachers ordained and settled over parishes, and to em- 
ploy no mere itinerants without subjecting them to se- 
vere examinations. But John Weslej^ continued to send 
out his soundly converted men to show the perishing 
masses the way of life. 

At the close of the Bristol Conference he wrote the 
following noble vindication of his course : 

"A careless reader of the Address may think I make 
it necessary for a minister to have much learning ; and 
thence imagine I act inconsistently, seeing manj^ of our 
preachers have no learning at all. But the answer is 
easy. First, I do not make any learning necessary even 
for a minister, — the minister of a parish, who, as such, 
undertakes single to guide and feed, to instruct and go- 
vern, that whole flock — but the knowledge of the Scrip- 
tures ; although many branches of learning are highly 



FOR OUH YOUNG PEOPLE. 167 

expedient for him. Secondl}^ these preachers are not 
ministers ; none of them undertakes single the care of a 
whole flock, but ten, twenty, or thirt}^ one following and 
helping another ; and all, under the direction of my bro- 
ther and me, undertake jointly what (as I judge) no man 
in England is equal to alone." 

Wesley said he tolerated lay preaching because he be- 
lieved without it thousands of souls would perish ever- 
lastingly. 

Wesley was a great and careful reader of books. His 
notes on books are sometimes curious. After reading 
Voltaire's Henriade, he says, "I am more than ever con- 
vinced that the French is the poorest, meanest language 
in Europe ; that it is no more comparable to the German 
or Spanish, than a bagpipe is to an organ ; and that, with 
regard to poetry in particular, considering the incorrigi- 
ble uncouthness of their measure, and their always T^Tit- 
iiig in rhyme, it is as impossible to write a fine poem in 
French, as to make fine music on a jew's-harp." 



168 A HISTORY OF IMETHODISM 



CHAPTER XIY. 

In 1757 Whitefield came near being murdered by an 
Irish mob. He went out to preach on a common near 
Dublin attended by a soldier and four preachers. As 
they left the ground hundreds of enraged papists gather- 
ed around them hurling volleys of stones ; at almost 
every step Whitefield was struck until he was covered 
with blood. He expected to be killed, and like Stephen 
" to go off in this bloody triumph to the immediate pres- 
ence of his Master." He found momentary refuge in the 
house of a minister, but the minister's wife begged him to 
go away, fearing the raging mob would pull down the house. 
A man lent him a wig and a cloak as a disguise, and a 
coach was brought by some of his friends into which he 
leaped and "rode in gospel triumph," he saj^s, through 
the oaths, curses and imprecations of whole streets of 
papists. The weeping, mourning, but now joyful Metho- 
dists received me with inconceivable affection ; a Chris- 
tian surgeon dressed my wounds, and then I went into 
the preaching place, and joined in a hymn of praise and 
thanksgiving to Him who stills the noise of the waves 
and the madness of the most malignant people." 

Wesley's work in London was such as few men could 
stand. He regarded a Sunday's work in the city as 
equal to preaching eight sermons. One of his sacra- 
mental services lasted for five hours, and at a covenant 
service at Spitalfields twelve hundred Methodists met 
him and worshipped the same length of time. 

Strange people encountered Wesley in his travels ; at 
one place he met with a singular husband, " who, by the 



FOR OUB YOUNG PEOPLE. 169 

advice of his pastor had, very calmly and deliberately, 
beaten his wife with a large stick, till she was black and 
blue, almost from head to foot." The man insisted that 
it was his duty to do this, because his wife was surly 
and ill-natured; and, that he was full of faith all the 
time he was doing it, and had been so ever since. 

Passing through a mountainous portion of the coun- 
try, Wesley met a set of people who were nearly equal 
to savages. He saj'-s : " A wilder people I never saw in 
England. The men, women and children filled the street 
as we rode along, and appeared just ready to devour us. 
They were, however, tolerably quiet while I preached ; 
only a few pieces of dirt were thrown, and the bell-man 
came in the middle of the sermon. I had almost done 
when they began to ring the bells." 

Wesley held his Conference for this year, 1757, at 
London. It was in session a week ; and "from the first 
hour to the last," he says, "there was no jarring string, 
but all harmonj^ and love." This is about what we know 
of this Conference, except that the Church question was 
discussed. 

Some people regard Wesley as an arbitrary, imperious 
man, but this is a mistake. He strove only to follow the 
leadings of Providence, and often hesitated to use the 
loving authoritj'' of a spiritual father over his children. 

In a letter to a friend he says, "In a thousand in- 
stances I feel the want of more resolution and fii'mness 
of spirit : I exercise as little authority as possible, be- 
cause I am afraid of the people depending on me too 
much, and paying me more reverence than they ought." 

Wesley came near losing his Kingswood school this 
year by fire. About 8 o'clock at night one of the boj'S 
opened the stairway, and was driven back by smoke. 
He shouted, "Fire! Murder! Fire!" All the family 

12 



170 A mSTORY OF j^IETIIODISM 

were aroused, and were wild with friglit. At length a 
man ran up a ladder, and with an axe broke through the 
roof, and the fire was soon put out. The next day a 
man met Wesley and told him the school-house was 
burned. Wesley says, "I felt not a moment's pain, 
knowing that God does all things well." Nothing seem- 
ed able to shake his faith in the goodness of God, and 
whether in adversity or prosperity, he leaned on His 
guiding hand. 

One of the ablest books Wesley ever published was 
issued this year in reply to Dr. John Taylor of Norwich, 
the ablest Socinian writer of his day, on the doctrine of 
Original Sin. Wesley looked upon Taylor's system as 
nothing but "old deism in a new dress." In his view, 
Taylor's book was full of deadly poison, which had been 
diffusing itself through the nation, churches and univer- 
sities for many years. Wesley treats his able opponent 
with great respect, but refutes his whole theory. Some 
time after the publication of this repl}^ he wrote to Dr. 
Taylor in reference to the controvers}^, and said he could 
not regard it as a dispute "between John Wesley and 
John Taylor," quoting Taylor's language, but as affect- 
ing the very vitals of true religion. "It is," said Wes- 
le}'', "Christianity or heathenism. For take away the 
scriptural doctrine of redemption, or justification, and 
that of the new birth ; or, which amounts to the same, 
explain them as j^ou do, suitably to your doctrine of ori- 
ginal sin ; and what is Christianity better than heathen- 
ism ? Wherein, except in rectifying some of our notions, 
has the religion of St. Paul any pre-eminence over that 
of Socrates or Epictetus ? The point is, are those things 
that have been believed for many ages throughout the 
Christian world real, solid truths ; or monkish, and vain 
imaginations ?" 



FOR OIJR TOUNG PEOPLE. 171 

Thus Wesley held his adversary to the great and sol- 
emn facts in the history of mankind which attest the 
doctrine of original sin and the need of a Redeemer 
from sin. And our readers can see that now, not less 
than in Wesley's day, we must bring the same facts to 
the notice of men and press them upon their consciences. 
In no other way can we dissipate the dreams of those 
who would undermine and destroy the whole system of 
Christianit}^ 

Dr. Taylor did not accept Wesley's challenge, and a 
few years after he died Wesley wrote of him to a friend : 
"For some j^ears that great man. Dr. Taylor of Norwich, 
was an earnest Calvinist ; but afterwards finding he could 
not get far enough from that melancholy system, he ran, 
not only into Arianism, but into the very dregs of Soci- 
nianism. I have reason, however, to believe he was con- 
vinced of his mistake some years before he died ; but to 
acknowledge this publicly was too hard a task for him. " 

In the 3'ear 1758 Wesley had the first intimation of 
the extension of Methodism into the New World. Un- 
der date of January 17, he writes : "I preached in Mr. 
Gilbert's house. Two negro servants of his and a mu- 
latto appear to be much awakened. ' Shall not His sav- 
ing health be made known to all nations ?' " In Novem- 
ber following, he wrote : " I rode to Wandsworth, and 
baptized two negroes belonging to Mr. Gilbert, a gentle- 
man lately come from Antigua. One of these is deeply 
convinced of sin ; the other rejoices in God her Saviour, 
and is the fio^-st African Christian I have known. But 
shall not our Lord, in due time, have these heathen also 
' for His inheritance ?' " 

We have here the germ of the gTcat work of Method- 
ism in the West India Islands, and among the millions 
of the black races throusrhout the world. 



172 A HISTORY OF ]\IETHODISM 

The man who planted Methodism in the West Indies 
deserves at least a brief notice at our hands. Nathaniel 
Gilbert possessed an estate in the Island of Antigua 
which descended to him fron his ancestors. He was an 
-able man, and held high office in the Island. His bro- 
ther, a gay, wealthy, and worldly man, had been reduced 
to poverty, and took refuge first in Jamaica and then in 
England. His misfortunes brought him to repentance, 
and he became a Methodist. He sent to his brother Gil- 
bert some of Wesley's writings, among them his "Ap- 
peal to Men of Reason and Religion." Believing Wes- 
ley to be an enthusiast, he refused to read his books, but 
his sister read the Appeal to him, and this so altered his 
opinion that he desired to see Wesley. With this pur- 
pose he visited England, where he remained two years. 
He made the acquaintance of Fletcher, and was so anx- 
ious for the salvation of the nesfroes of Antio;ua that he 
urged that holy man to go home with him ; but Fletcher 
declined, saying he had not "sufficient zeal, grace, nor 
talents," for a missionary's life in the West Indies. 
Gilbert went home and became an evangelist himself. 
He fitted up a room, and at once began to preach to his 
own slaves, and was branded a madman for so doing. 
His brother Francis soon came from England to his help, 
a society was formed, and so Methodism started on its 
way in the West India Islands. 

Nathaniel Gilbert died in 1774, eleven years before 
the regular Wesleyan missionaries came into the Islands, 
leaving, as the fruit of his labor, a society of sixty mem- 
bers. In his last sickness a friend said to him, "On 
whom do you trust?" "On Christ crucified," was the 
quick answer. " Have you peace with God ?" " Un- 
speakable," he replied. "Have you no fear, no doubt ?" 
"None," said the dying man. " Can you pai-t with your 



FOE OUP. YOUNG PEOPLE. 173 

wife and children ?" " Yes," said the departing saint ; 
"God will be their strength and portion." Thus died 
the first Methodist preacher in the West Indies. The 
family of this good man walked in his steps, and as late 
as 18G4, one of his great grandsons was the minister of 
Madeley parish, and stated " that he had reason to be- 
lieve that no child or grandchild of the first West Indian 
Methodist had passed away without being prepared for 
the better world ; and that almost all of them had been 
ever distinguished among Christians for their earnest 
devotion to the Divine Redeemer." "Instead of thy 
fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make 
princes in all the earth." 

The work of Wesley both in England and Ireland was 
rich in incidents and abundant in toil. He never relaxed 
his efforts for a day. On Frida}'-, after preaching a pow- 
erful sermon before the Bedford assizes, he declined the 
invitation of the presiding judge to dine with him, and 
rode a hundred and twenty miles, much of the way 
through a " storm of wind, snow, sleet and hail," to meet 
an appointment on Sunday at Epworth. In the after- 
noon, after attending service in his father's church, "he 
took his stand in the market-place, and in the midst of 
wintry winds and wintry rain, preached to an unflinching 
multitude, collected together from all the country round 
about." 

He went into Ireland, where he passed through vari- 
ous scenes. At one place, " he found a Toom built pur- 
posely for him and his itinerants, three j^ards long, two 
and a quarter broad, and six feet high ; the walls, floor, 
and ceiling, mud, and the furniture a clean chaff bed." 
At another place, Lurs^an, he went to see a queer house 
"which an eminent scholar had built for himself;" it 
was " part mud, part brick, part stone, and part bones 



174 A HISTORY OF iMETHODISM 

and wood, with four windows, but without glass in any ; 
of two stories, but without a staircase ; on the floor 
three rooms — one three square, the second with five 
sides, and the third with more." Wesley s^js, " I give 
a particular description of this wonderful edifice to illus- 
trate the truth — there is no folly too great oven for a 
man of sense, if he resolves to follow his own imagina- 
tion." 



FOR our. YOUNG PEOPLE. 17o 



CHAPTER XV. 

At one place Wesley preached in a church-yard ; at an- 
other he found the papists so bitter and bloodthirsty that 
'•he left the place at four o'clock in the morning riding a 
horse without either bridle or saddle." At Limerick he 
found his noble helper, Thomas Walsh, " alive, and but 
just alive." He was dying of a consumption, brought on 
" by violent straining of his voice, added to frequent 
colds, which was now in its last stage, and beyond the 
reach of human help." 

Soon after seeing his dying friend, Wesley preached 
in an island near Limerick "to thousands seated on the 
grass row by row." In preaching he over-strained him- 
self, and the next morning began to spit blood ; for a 
week he had to rest, but repose, " a brimstone plaster, 
and a linctus of roasted lemon and honey," soon restored 
him to his usual health. 

Li August he returned to England to meet his Confer- 
ence at Bristol. There were thirty-seven preachers pres- 
ent. Fourteen candidates offered for the regular itine- 
rant work. The life and conduct of the preachers were 
examined into closely. They were enjoined to be more 
serious. "You must," said Wesley to them, "do one of 
three things : either spend time in chit-chat, or learn La- 
tin or Hebrew, or spend all j^our time and strength in 
saving souls. Which will you do ?" The answer of the 
preachers was, " The last, by the grace of God." Find- 
ing that Weslej^'s books had not been diligently circu- 
lated, the Conference agreed to allow one person in 



176 A HISTORY OF jMETIIODIS:M 

every circuit a commission of ten per cent, on all the 
books he might sell. It was asked whether a certain 
preacher had said, " I want no more grace for a year and 
a day." The reply was, "Ask himself. If he has, and 
will not be convinced of his fault, let him be publicly 
disowned." 

In the matter of discipline, the Conference was rigid. 
The assistants were directed to examine closely all the 
societies, and to remove from the private bands, and to 
put into penitential classes " all who were not exercising 
the faith by which a man is justified and finds peace with 
God." 

There had been much misunderstanding and much 
wrong teaching on the doctrine of perfection, and the 
Conference gave the following expression on this vital 
subject : 

The question was asked, " Do you affirm that perfec- 
tion excludes all infirmities, ignorance, and mistake ?" 

Answer — " We continually affirm just the contrary." 

Question — "What does Christian perfection imply?" 

Answer — "The loving God with all the heart, so that 
every evil temper is destroyed, and every thought, and 
word, and work springs from, and is conducted to the 
end by the pure love of God and our neighbor." 

The purity of his preachers and societies Wesley re- 
solved to maintain. 

"Are our societies," he asked, "in general as godly 
and as serious as the old Puritans ? Wh}^ should they 
not? What means can we use to effect it?" The an- 
swer was, "Enforce family discipline, closely examine 
the state of every soul, not only at stated times, but in 
every conversation." In accordance with this view and 
purpose, Wesley wrote to one of his helpers : " No per- 
son must be allowed to preach or exhort among our peo- 



FOR Oini YOUNG PEOPLE. 177 

pie whose life is not holy and unblamable ; nor any who 
asserts anj'thing contrary to the gospel which we have 
received. And, if he does not own his fault and amend 
it, he cannot be a leader any longer." Strict but loving 
discipline was the means of maintaining the purity of 
the early Methodist; societies. It might be well if Wes- 
le3^'s example in this respect were more closely copied 
by modern Methodists. 

In his journeyings after the close of the Conference, 
Wesley called to see a man whose name is associated 
with the great revival that spread over England as one 
of the most devoted and successful laborers. John Ber- 
ridge was vicar of Everton, but labored as an itinerant 
preacher for more than twenty years on a circuit which 
embraced five counties, and in which he usually preached, 
from ten to twelve sermons a week. His congregations 
numbered in some places from ten to fifteen thousand. 
People came twenty miles to hear him, and were at Ever- 
ton by seven o'clock in the morning, at which hour he 
preached. He was converted after he took charge of his 
parish, and the first j^ear afterwards he saw a thousand 
persons under conviction of sin, and in the same time 
four thousand were awakened under his own and the 
preaching of Mr. Hicks, another devout minister of the 
Established Church. 

He was bitterly opposed by the ungodly people of high 
and low degree, and the old devil was the name by whicli 
they called him. But he was not moved from his course. 
He rented barns and unoccupied dwellings, emploj-ed 
lay preachers and paid them himself, spending his full 
income, and even selling his family plate, to clothe and 
feed them. He was never married, and at his death a 
vast crowd of people gathered to pay the tribute of their 
tears to the holy man who had led them to Christ. 



178 A inSTORY OF IMETIIODISM 

Under the preaching of Berridge the most extraordi- 
nary manifestations appeared. People were often strick- 
en down and lay as if dead. On one occasion, under 
one of his sermons, several fainted, many cried out in 
agony of spirit, the church was packed from pulpit steps 
to the door, and the windows were filled ; while he spoke i- 
some shrieked, others roared, but the most general sound 
was a loud breathing like that of people half strangled. 
Numbers fell down as dead ; some sinking m silence, 
and some in the utmost agitation. 

At one time in Everton church two hundred persons, 
mostly men, were at the same moment crying aloud for 
mercy. 

In a letter to "Wesley, Berridge describes some of the 
scenes at his meetings : " The word is everywhere like 
a hammer, breaking the rock in pieces. People fall 
down, cry out most bitterly, and struggle so A^ehemently 
that five or six men can scarce hold them. 

" Of late there has been a wonderful outpouring of 
the spirit of love among belicA^ers ; insomuch that they 
have fainted under it, fallen down, and lain upon the 
ground, as dead, for some hours ; their bodies being so 
weakened by these transports of joy that they have not 
been able to endure hard labor for days afterwards." 

Such manifestations had occurred j^ears before at dif- 
ferent places, and Wesley, after describing what he had 
seen at Everton, says : 

" I have generally observed more or less of these out- 
ward S3auptoms to attend the beginning of a general 
work of Grod ; so it was in New England, Scotland, 
Holland, Ireland, and many parts of England, but, after 
a time, they gradually decrease, and the work goes on 
more quietly and silently. Those whom it pleases God 
to employ in his work ought to be quite passive in this 



FOR OUn YOUXG PEOrLE. 179 

respect ; they should choose nothing, but leave entirely 
to him all the circumstances of his own work." After- 
wards, in the spread of Methodism in America, there 
was abundant confirmation of Wesle3^'s opinion. 

In the great revival in England, the conversion of 
ministers of the Established Church is a striking fea- 
ture. We have seen what a work Berridge carried on 
after his conversion. Another remarkable case was that 
of Rev. Richard Conj-^ers. 

He was vicar of Helmsley, and labored in every way 
to promote the morals of his people. He instructed the 
young, catechised the children, held prayer-meetings at 
his own house, and yet he was not happy in his own 
religious experience. He fasted often, and actually at 
the altar of his own church signed solemn covenants 
with his own blood. But still he was unhappy. At last, 
by reading the Bible carefully, he was led to see the 
way of salvation by simple faith in Christ. On Christ- 
mas day he trusted and found peace. " I went up stairs 
and down again," he says, " backwards and forwards in 
my room, clapping my hands for joy and crying, ' I have 
found Him, I have found Him whom my soul loveth,' 
and for a little time, whether in the body or out of it, I 
could hardly tell." He told his own experience in his 
church, and at once began to preach salvation by faith. 

AYesle}^ being in Bristol, heard of the wretched con- 
dition of the French prisoners, and he went to see 
them. He found eleven hundred of them in the most 
wretched state, lying on beds of straw, covered with 
rags, and in danger of dying. He went back to Bristol, 
and that night preached on the text, " Thou shalt not 
oppress a stranger ; for ye know the heart of a stranger, 
seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." He 
collected about a hundred dollars, and bought clothing 



180 A HISTORY OF IMETHODISM 

for the poor prisoners. He also wrote a letter for the 
press in which he touchingly described the condition of 
the French soldiers. By his efforts they were relieved 
by contributions sent from various parts of the King- 
dom. He literally went about doing good. No man 
could fall so low as to be beneath his sympathy and 
help. 

There arose about this time much controversy among 
the Methodists concerning the doctrine of Christian 
perfection, and Wesley took great pains to guard his 
people against all extravagance and all unscriptural 
views on this state of grace. 

"' He lays it down that no one ought to believe that he 
is fully sanctified till he has the testimony of the Spirit, 
witnessing his entire sanctification, as clearly as his jus- 
tification ; and that all ought to wait for this great 
change, 'not in careless indifference, or indolent inac- 
tivity ; but in vigorous, universal obedience, in a zealous 
keeping of all the commandments, in watchfulness and 
painfulness, in denying ourselves, and taking up our 
cross daily ; as well as in earnest prayer and fasting, 
and a close attendance on all the ordinances of God.' " 
And he adds, "If any man dream of attaining it any 
other way, yea, or of keeping it when it is attained, he 
deceiveth his own soul. It is true, we receive it by sim- 
ple faith, but God does not, will not give that faith, un- 
less we seek it with all diligence, in the way which he 
hath ordained." 

If ever there was a true philanthropist, John Wesley 
was one. On the first of the year 1760, a friend whom 
he did not know sent him $100, and desired him to lay 
it out for the benefit of poor prisoners. He went to two 
of the London prisons and spent the whole sum in giving 
bread and clothes to nearly naked and starving men and 



FOR Oim YOUNG PEOPLE. 181 

women. SiDeaking of this gift, he says : "The whole of 
this sum was laid oat in real charity. And how much 
more noble a satisfaction must result from this, to the 
senerous benefactor, than he could have received from 
an embroidered suit of clothes, or a piece of plate made 
in the newest fashion. Men of reason, judge !" i 

A proposal was this year (1760) made to Wesley by 
Rev. Walter Sellon, one of his earnest co-laborers, to 
establish " an. hospital for poor superannuated Methodist 
preachers, and for travelling preachers' wives ; together 
with a college for a master and four fellows and a cer- 
tain number of students, to be chosen from Kingswood 
and elsewhere." Wesley answered Sellon's letter, but 
his reply has not been found. 

During this year, and for several succeeding, there 
was a great revival of the work of holiness among the 
Methodists. " God was pleased," says Wesley, "to pom- 
out his Spirit on every part of England and Ireland, 
perhaps in a manner we had never seen ; certainly not 
for twenty years." In 1762 he found "four hundred 
witnesses of sanctification in the London Societies, and 
the classes were everywhere quickened with the same 
aspirations after holiness." The experience of those 
who were sanctified is thus described: "After a deep 
conviction of inbred sin, they had been so filled with 
faith and love that sin vanished, and they found from 
that time no pride, anger, or unbelief. They could re- 
joice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in everything 
give thanks. Now, whether- we call this the destruction 
or the suspension of sin, it is a glorious work of God ; 
such work as, considering both the depth and extent of 
it, we never saw in these kingdoms before." Some, 
Wesley admits, had lost this blessing, but very few, com- 



182 A mSTORY OF METHODISM 

pared with the large number of professors. Some ran 
into a wild enthusiasm, and to some extent became 
stumbling blocks, but the work went on, "nor has it 
ceased," he says, " to this day in any of its branches. 
God still convinces, justifies, sanctifies. We have lost 
only the dross, the enthusiasm, the offence. The pure 
gold remains, faith working by love, and we have reason 
to believe increases daily." Wesley attributed the mar- 
vellous success of the Methodists to the preaching of 
holiness. He noticed and stated the fact that wherever 
it was preached revivals followed. " Ploliness," said he, 
" is the grand depositum which God has given to the 
people called Methodists, and chiefly to propagate this, 
it appears, God raised them up. Their mission was not 
to form a religious party, but to spread holiness over 
these lands." 

While the Methodists were striving to lead the igno- 
rant masses of the people to Christ, and to spread holi- 
ness through the land, they were assailed by every means 
at the command of the wicked and profane. The co- 
median Foote ridiculed and caricatured them on the 
stage ; in pennj^ pamphlets they were abused to the 
verge of indecency and profanity by weak but scurril- 
lous writers. The public were told that WhitefiekVs 
"hummers, sighers, and weepers were hireling hypocrites 
at two shillings and sixpence per week, and were the ap- 
probatives to his doctrine." One writer describes the 
Methodists as " a restless, turbulent people, remarkable 
for nothing but their abusive language and uncharitiible 
sentiments." Methodism, to this writer, is "a spurious 
mixture of enthusiasm and blasphemy, popery and qua- 
kerism," and its preaching " gross, personal abuse ; 
vasjue, incoherent reasoning, and loose, empty declama- 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 183 

tion." A class-leader was spoken of as " an illiterate 
hog, a feeder of swine ;" and the writer of this abuse 
said he could not doubt that he should live to see "this 
imaginary candle of the Lord which the Methodists had 
set up dwindle into a snuff and expire in a stink." 
Happily he did not prove to be a prophet. 

While the wicked world was shooting its poisoned 
arrows, Wesley went on with his work of preaching ho- 
liness and urging his people to keep close to the spirit 
of the gospel. In his printed sermons as in his oral, he 
did not spare. Of paying taxes he said: "It is, at 
least, as sinful to defraud the King of his right as to 
rob our fellow subjects ; the King has full as much right 
to his customs as we have to our houses and apparel." 

On dram drinking and dram selling he is terrible. 
"Drams, or spirituous liquors, are liquid fire, and all 
who manufacture or sell them, except as medicine, aro 
poisoners general. They murder his majesty's subjects 
by wholesale. They drive them to hell like sheep. The 
curse of God is in their gardens, their walks, their 
groves. Blood, blood is there ; the foundation, the floor, 
the walls, the roof of their dwellings, are stained with 
blood." 

In his "Advice to the Methodists with Eegard to 
Dress," he is plain and to the point. "I would not ad- 
vise you to imitate the Quakers in these little particulars 
of dress, which can answer no possible end, but to dis- 
tinguish them from all other people. To be singular, 
merely for singularity's sake, is not the part of a Chris- 
tian. But I advise j^ou to imitate them, first, in the neat- 
ness, and secondly, in the plainness, of their apparel. 
Wear no gold, no pearls or precious stones ; use no curl- 
ing of hair ; buy no velvets, no silks, no fine linen, no 



184 A HISTORY OF SIETHODISM 

superfluities, no mere ornaments, though ever so much in 
fashion. Wear nothing which is of a glaring colour, or 
which is, in any kind, gay, glistering, showy, nothing 
made in the very height of fashion, nothing apt to at- 
tract the eyes of by-standers. 

"I do not advise women to wear rings, ear-rmgs, neck- 
laces, lace, or ruffles. Neither do I advise men to wear 
coloured waistcoats, shining stockings, glittering or cost- 
ly buckles or buttons, either on their coats or in their 
sleeves, any more than gay, fashionable, or expensive 
perukes. It is true these are little, very little things ; 
therefore, they are not worth defending ; therefore, give 
them up, let them drop, throw them away, without an- 
other word." 

What say fashionable, gay and dressy Methodists to 
this ? 

Wesley had now worked for a quarter of a century. 
With what results? Methodism had been planted in 
almost every county in England. Ninety itinerant 
preachers were in the field, aided in their work by a 
large number of local preachers, leaders, and stewards. 
The two Weslej^s had published a large number of books, 
tracts, and hymns. John himself had issued from the 
press nine numbers of his Journal, and seventy volumes 
of books, including his Notes on the New Testament, 
his Sermons, and his Christian Library. Can the records 
of the world show a nobler result than this? Well does 
Mr. Tyerman, his latest biographer, say in his review of 
these twenty -five years : *' AVesley began his career as a 
penniless priest ; he was without patrons and without 
friends ; magistrates threatened him ; the clergy ex- 
pelled him from their churches, and wrote numberless 
and furious pasquinades against him ; newspapers and 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 185 

magazines reviled him ; ballad singers, in foulest lan- 
guage, derided him ; mobs assaulted, and, more tlian 
once, well-nigh murdered him ; not a few of his com- 
panions in toil forsook him and became his antagonists ; 
and yet, despite all this, such were some of the results 
of the first five-and-twenty years of his unequalled pub- 
lic niinistr}^" 

13 



186 A HISTORY OF JMETHODISM 



CHAPTER XVI. 

We have laid before the reader the advice of Wesley 
in reference to extravagance in dress and living. His 
earnest protest cannot be appreciated unless we have 
some idea of the excesses which prevailed in English 
society in his times. 

The Sabbath was a day for visits among the nobility 
and gentry, and for the coarser and more brutal sports 
among the lower classes. The great political ministers 
gave their grand entertainments on the Lord's day. 
Gambling was a fashionable vice. Men were "learned 
in obscenities and skilled in wickedness." "The man- 
sions, furniture, tables, equipages, gardens, clothes, plate, 
and jewels of the nobility were as gorgeous as wealth 
could make them. Young tradesmen had their country 
houses, drove their carriages, and, to a ruinous extent, 
left the management of their business to their servants. 
Dress was ludicrously expensive. The upper classes in- 
dulged in their brocades, laces, velvets, satins, and silver 
tassels ; and even the sons of mechanics sported their 
gold buttons, high quartered shoes, scarlet waistcoats, 
and doeskin breeches. But, perhaps, the most absurd of 
all was the ladies' powdered head-dress ; curled, frizzled, 
and stuffed with wool ; and pinned, greased, and worked 
up into an immense protuberance, which, for months, put 
it out of the lady's power to comb her head, and created 
an effluvia of not the most pleasant odour, and gave birth 
to animalcula which ladies could have done well enousrh 
without." 



FOPw OUK YOUNG PEOPLE. 187 

Tliis may help ns to appreciate the caution m the old 
editions of the Discipline to Methodist ladies against car- 
rying high heads and wearing enormous bonnets. 

The picture just given refers mainly to the society in 
London and other great cities of the Kingdom. In the 
rural districts the state of society was not much better. 
"The countr}'," says Tyerman, "if not so flagrantly 
wicked as the town, was, notwithstanding, steeped in ig- 
norance and sin. There were thousands of godly peo- 
ple, but the bulk of the population were little better than 
baptized barbarians. The clergy, in many instances, 
were laz3', or drunken, or non-resident. Numbers of 
them were miserably paid, and had to practice mean- 
nesses to eke out insufficient incomes. Others were 
more fond of preaching over pewter pots, in dirty ale- 
houses, tlian of preaching in their pulpits, or of visiting 
their flocks. Others revelled amid all the luxuries of a 
fat benefice, leaving the duties of their parishes to young, 
half-starved curates, who had to live on the mere glean- 
ings of their master's vintage ; and others had a far 
greater penchant for persecuting Methodists than for 
saving souls." 

So far from this picture of English clergymen and 
English society being extravagant, the author of it de- 
clares it to be '•' simply defective — that is all.'' 

Many questions came up in the progress of Methodism 
to perplex Wesley, and the proper settlement of which 
required cool and careful judgment. One of these was, 
whether women should be allowed to preach ? Wesley 
had shocked the nerves of his brother ministers in the 
Established Church by permitting unordained men to 
preach ; now he was to become more vile in their eyes 
by granting this high privilege to women. Sarah Cosby 
was the first female preacher among the Methodists. 



188 A HISTORY OF IMETIIODISM 

She was a most successful class leader, and on one occa- 
sion when she expected to meet her class of about thh'ty, 
she found a congregation of nearly two hundred. 

Of the meeting and what occurred she ssijs : "I found 
an awful, loving sense of the Lord's presence. I was 
not sure whether it was right for me to exhort in so pub- 
lic a manner ; and, yet, I saw it impracticable to meet 
all these people by way of speaking particularly to each 
individual. I therefore gave out a hymn, and prayed, 
and told them part of what the Lord had done for my- 
self, persuading them to flee from sin." 

A few days after, she spoke to another large congrega- 
tion, and says : "My soul was much comforted in speak- 
ing to the people, as my Lord has removed all my scru- 
ples respecting the propriety of my acting thus pub- 
licly." 

In reply to a letter from this lady to Wesley he wrote : 
"Hitherto, I think you have not gone too far ; you could 
not well do less. I apprehend all you can do more is, 
when you meet again, to tell them sim-pl}^ 'You lay me 
wnder a great difficulty. The Methodists do not allow of 
women preachers ; neither do I take upon me any such 
character ; but I will just nakedlj^ tell you what is in my 
heart.' I do not see that you have broken any law. Go 
on calmly and steadily. If you have time, you may read 
to them the Notes on any chapter before you speak a 
few words ; or one of the most awakening sermons, as 
other women have done loug ago." 

Sarah Cosby remained a preacher more than forty 
years, and died in 1804. Among other women who 
preached among the Methodists we may name Hannah 
Harrison, Miss Bosanquet, afterwards the wife of Fletch- 
er, Miss Horrall, Miss Newman, and Mary Barrett. 

In April, 1761, Wesley went to Scotland. Methodism 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 189 

had been already planted in Aberdeen by some who had 
heard him preach in England. Wesley remained a week 
with the little band, and preached twice every day at 
five in the morning; and at seven in the eveninsf. Some 
unfriendly person published an account of this visit, in 
which are many assertions that the reader can only be 
amused at. "All Wesley's discourses," he says, '-abound- 
ed with comical stories, which generally concluded with 
something to his own praise.*' The following is simply 
ridiculous : "Before his separation, he caused a paper to 
be written, containing words to this purpose — 'On such 
a da}'-, at such a sermon, we, the following subscribers, 
were converted from the evil of our waj^s to the true 
faith of Jesus Christ.' Many persons ignorantly put 
their names to this paper without knowing what they 
signed. This document Mr. AYesley carried with him to 
show the great success of his ministry in Aberdeen." 

We give this idle story only to show what absurdities 
were published about Wesley and his work even in the 
most respectable journals of that da}-. 

This wise writer also informs his readers how the Me- 
thodists conducted their love-feasts: "In the morning 
of the day on which the full moon happens, all the men 
meet in one place ; in the afternoon, the women meet by 
themselves ; and at night both men and women meet to- 
gether. Their employment, then, is to eat bread and 
drink water with one another, to spend the whole night 
in prayer and singing hymns, and then to part with a 
brotherly kiss." 

Among the older Methodists there lingered until a 
few 3^ears ago some who had seen the great leader, and 
whose recollections of him and his manner of travelling 
are always interesting. Tj^erman says that " an old Me- 
thodist at Yarm, England, related that she well remem- 



190 A HISTORY OF ]METHODISM 

bered Wesley, — his cassock, his black silk stockings, his 
large silver buckles, and his old lumbering carriage, with 
a book-case inside of it.. In fact, she herself and an- 
other little girl, while playing, ran the pole of the car- 
riage through Mr. Merr3^weather's parlor window, for 
which they deservedly received a scolding. She further 
stated that, on a certain occasion when Mr. Merrywea- 
ther's servant entered Wesley's room, she found Wes- 
ley's coachman rolling himself up and down the feather- 
bed most vigorously'-, because, as he aflEirmed, Wesley 
would not sleep in it until it was made as hard as possi- 
ble." 

Wesley in his travels came to Rotherham, where a 
new chapel had been built in an octagon form. The 
style pleased him very much, and he says, "Pity our 
houses, where the ground will admit of it, should be 
built in any other form." While preaching the opening 
sermon in this house, " the rabble drove in an ass, which 
stood in the aisle, lifted up its eyes to the preacher, re- 
mained quiet until the sermon was ended, then turned 
round and leisurely walked awa3% without making the 
disturbance that the mob expected. AVesley pronounced 
the ass the most attentive hearer that he had," 

At the Conference of 1761 the doctrine of Christian 
perfection was carefully reviewed. Some crude and ex- 
travagant views of holiness had been announced b}^ cer- 
tain persons, and Wesley felt constrained to give a clear 
statement of the doctrine as he held and taught it. He 
preached a course of sermons on the subject, in which he 
said, "As long as the soul is connected with the body, it 
cannot think but by help of bodily organs. As long as 
these organs are imperfect, we shall be liable to onistakes, 
both speculative and practical. For all these we need 
the atoning blood, as indeed for every defect or omission. 



FOR OUE YOUNG PEOPLE. 191 

Therefore, all men have need to say, daily, ' Forgive ns 
our trespasses.' " 

In his sermon on Wandering Thoughts he says : " That 
every man, either in sleep or from some other cause, is 
more or less innocently delirious every four and twenty 
hours, and that the only ' wandering thoughts' which are 
sinful, and from which we should pray to be delivered, 
are all those thoughts which wander from God, and 
leave him no room in the mind ; all which spring from 
sinful tempers ; all which produce or feed sinful tem- 
pers." In summing up he says : "To expect deliverance 
from wandering thoughts, occasioned by evil spirits, is 
to expect that the devil should die or fall asleep. To 
expect deliverance from those which are occasioned by 
other men is to expect, either that men should cease 
from the earth, or that we should be absolutely secluded 
from them. And to pray for deliverance from those 
which are occasioned by the body is, in effect, to pray 
that we may leave the body." This sermon was de- 
signed to correct the errors of some who held to what 
the}^ called the sanctification of the mind. 

Wesley observed closely the progress of the work of 
holiness among his people, and gives this record : " We 
had a love-feast in London, at which several declared 
the blessings they had found. We need not be careful 
by what name to call them, while the theory is beyond 
dispute. Many have, and many do daily, experience an 
unspeakable change. After beiug deeply convicted of 
inbred sin, particularly of pride, self-will, and unbelief, 
in a moment they feel all faith and love ; no pride, no 
self-will, or anger ; and from that moment they have 
continual fellowship with God, always rejoicing, praying, 
and giving thanks. Whoever ascribes such a change to 
the devil, I ascribe it to the Spirit of God." 



192 A HISTORY OF JIETHODISM 

Most persons consider " a soup house" a modern in- 
stitution. It is not. Wesley establistied one at tlie 
Founder}^, in London, more than a hundred years ago. 
The winter of 1763 was unusually severe. The Thames 
was frozen so hard that vehicles crossed on the ice, and 
fairs were held on the river. Thousands of boatmen 
and others were thrown out of employment and reduced 
to great suffering. Many persons were frozen to death, 
and the streets of London were filled with famished mul- 
titudes begging food. Wesley could not see such misery 
without trying to relieve it. He opened a place at the 
Foundery at which "great numbers of poor people had 
peas, pottage, and barley broth given them at the ex- 
pense of Mr. Wesley, and a collection was made in the 
Foundery for further supplying the necessities of the 
destitute, at which upwards of $500 were contributed." 
This was liberal, considering the value of money at that 
time, for the poor Methodists. 

Wesley not only worked to relieve misery — he was as 
laborious in his efforts to suppress vice. The Society 
for the Reformation of Manners was established in 1677, 
but had long been defunct. In 1757, through the influ- 
ence of Wesley and the Methodists, it was revived. The 
parish officers were reminded of their duty, and the laws 
against immorality more rigidly enforced. The work 
was so effectually done that " in five years ten thousand 
persons were brought to justice, chiefly for gambling, 
swearing. Sabbath breaking, lewdness, and selling ob- 
scene engravings." In 1763 one-half of the members 
of this Society were Methodists. 

At the Conference of 1763, Howell Harris, the Welsh 
preacher, was present, and in his speeches exhorted the 
preachers to be faithful in their work, and to speak to 
every man they met about his soul. He said : " If I 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 193 

meet a poor man, I give him a half-penii}' , if I have one ; 
but I always remember that the man has a soul as well 
as a body, and therefore I say something to him respect- 
ing his salvation. And if I meet a rich man, why should 
I be afraid of him? For aught I know, he ma}^ be worse 
than the beast he rides upon. Perhaps the beast carries 
the devil on its back." After Conference, Wesley made 
a visit to Wales, and enjoyed the Christian hospitality 
of Harris. He sa^'s : '•' Howell Harris's house is one ot 
the most elegant places which I have seen in Wales. 
The little chapel, and all things round about it, are 
finished in an uncommon taste; and the gardens, or- 
chards, fish-ponds, and mount adjoining, make the place 
a little paradise. He thanks God for these things, and 
looks through them. About six-score persons are now 
in the family ; all diligent, all constantly emploj^ed, all 
fearing God and working righteousness." Harris, it 
seems, was the head of an establishment of devout per- 
sons in which religion and labor were happily combined. 
We regard John Wesley as one of the wisest Chris- 
tian leaders that ever lived, and his opinions as to the 
best method of building up believers in their holy faith 
are well worth the most careful stud3^ On his journey 
through Wales he said : " 1 was more convinced thaii 
ever that the preaching like an apostle, without bringing 
together those who are awakened and training them up 
in the ways of God, is only begetting children for the 
murderer. How much preaching has there been for 
these twenty years all over Pembrokeshire ! But no 
regular societies, no discipline, no order or connection ; 
and the consequence is, that nine in ten of the once 
awakened are faster asleep than ever." These words 
are well worth serious thought. Methodism without dis- 
cipline, and without the religious training which its mem« 



194 A HISTORY OF 3HETII0DISM 

bers secure in the class, prayer, and other social meet- 
ings, can never fully do its work in the world. 

The care with which Wesley watched over his mem- 
bers is really noteworthy. He came to Bristol, where 
he found, as he also did in London and other places, that 
many Methodists were growing rich. He said of such : 
" This will be their grand danger ; as they are industri- 
ous and frugal, they must needs increase in goods. 
Some who are in business have increased in substance 
seven fold, some of them twenty, yea, an hundred fold. 
What need, then, have these of the strongest warnings, 
lest they be entangled therein and perish ?" Is there 
not need of like warning now ? 

He came to London and says : " I found our house in 
ruins, great part of it being taken down in order to a 
thorough repair. But as much remained as I wanted ; 
six feet square suffices me by day and by night." 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 195 



CHAPTER XVir. 

"We are now near the period when Methodism opened 
one of its grandest fields. 

Whitefield had visited America and preached with 
wonderful power over the sea coast line from Boston to 
Savannah. In the year 1764 he was again in the New 
World, and wrote to his old friend Wesley of his labors 
and the eager desire of the people to hear the Word. 
"I have been mercifully preserved from the summer's 
heat ; and had strength permitted, I might have preached 
to thousands and thousands thrice a day. Zealous 
preachers are not so rare in this New World as in other 
parts. Here is room for a hundred itinerants. Fain 
would I end my life in rambling after those who have 
rambled away from Jesus Christ. I am persuaded you 
are like minded. I do not repent being a poor despised, 
cast-out, and now almost worn-out itinerant. I would do 
it again, if I had my choice." 

Methodism, when it came to America, did not find a 
people wholly unprepared for its teachings. The " Great 
Awakening," as it is called, which began in the North- 
ern States under the preaching of such faithful men as 
the Tennents, Rowland, Jonathan Edwards, and others, 
turned the thoughts of many thousands to the question 
of salvation. Whitefield came over in the height of this 
revival, and entered into it with all his soul. Wherever 
he appeared multitudes crowded to hear him. He would 
travel two hundred miles a week, and preach sixteen 
times. Under the preaching of some of the ministers 



196 A HISTORY OF [METHODISM 

who labored in this great work, there were physical 
effects like those we have noticed as occuring in Eng- 
land. Many persons would fall fainting, and be carried 
from the churches in an insensible state. 

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, were converted under 
the preaching of Whitefield, but for want of proper 
pastoral care most of them went back again to the 
world. In 1760, it is supposed, a small party of emi- 
grants came from Ireland, and settled in the city of New 
York. Among them was Philip Emburj^ They found no 
congenial religious associations, and soon fell into a back- 
slidden state. In 1766 another company came over ; one 
of them, Barbara Heck, a godly woman, and a cousin of 
Embury, was shocked to find that no religious services 
were held by the Methodists. One day she found a 
number of them plajdng at cards. She snatched up the 
cards, threw them into the fire, and gave the offenders a 
sound exhortation. She then went off in search of Em- 
bury, found him, and told him he must begin to preach. 
He declined ; she insisted. He said he had no house to 
preach in. Preach in your own house, said the zealous 
woman. He had no congregation. She would collect 
one. He at last consented. Barbara went out and 
brought in four persons, who, with herself, made up the 
first Methodist congregation in America. The news of 
the meeting spread, and after a few weeks the people 
that attended more than filled the house. In a few 
months they had formed two classes. Three British sol- 
diers joined them and became exhorters. After a while 
Embury was invited to preach at the alms-house, and 
soon after the}^ fitted up a preaching place in a rig- 
ging loft. A strange helper now appeared. An ofiScer 
of the King's army, with his sword on and one eye tied 
up, came into the loft. They thought he had come to 




Old Rigging Loft. William Street, New York. 

Face page 196. 



FOR our. YOUNG PEOPLE. 197 

persecute them. They watched hira. lie seemed de- 
vout ; knelt with them in praj^er, knew the In^mns, and 
sung them heartily. When the services were over, he 
came forward and called them brethren. It was Captain 
Thomas Webb, of the Royal Arm 3^, a spiritual son of 
John Wesle}', and a soldier of the Cross. He was a 
preacher of great fervor and power. Hundreds of peo- 
ple wept, trembled, and fell in conviction under his ser- 
mons. He planted Methodism in Philadelphia, and 
there, as in New York, the first place of worship was a 
sail-loft. 

Robert Strawbridge came over in 1764 or '65, and set- 
tled in what was then "the backwoods," in Frederick 
count}'', Md. He was a poor, hard working man, but 
pious and faithful. He, like Embury, preached first in 
his own house, but soon built a little log meeting-house 
on Sam's creek. It was onl}^ twenty -two feet square, 
and had neither window, door nor floor. But it was hon- 
ored of God. It was the birthplace of man}^ souls, and 
gave five preachers to the Church. 

In 1769 the little band of American Methodists was 
reinforced by the arrival of three more laborers, Robert 
Williams, a local preacher from Ireland, and Joseph Pill- 
more and Richard Boardman, sent out b}^ Weslc}^ as mis- 
sionaries. They immediately entered into the fields al- 
ready white unto the harvest, and the people flocked to 
hear them in multitudes. 

The Methodists in New York built their first church 
in John street, and on this spot a Methodist church still 
stands. The house was 60 feet long and 42 feet wide, 
and was named Wesley chapel, after the founder of Me- 
thodism. It was erected in 1768, and was dedicated in 
October of the same year by Mr. Embury. When Board- 
man came to New York, he found the Society in a flourish- 



198 A inSTORY OF IMETHODISM 

ing condition. He entered upon his work with greai 
spirit, and his congregations were large and attentive. 

Mr. Fillmore, after spending some time in Philadelphia, 
came into Maryland and preached with success to the 
congregations which had been collected by Strawbridge. 
Bobert Williams also came to their help, and " a great 
work began in Baltimore county and other parts of the 
State." In this revival William Watters was converted, 
and became the first native itinerant American Method- 
ist preacher. Williams made a " successful missionary 
tour" in the peninsula of the Eastern Shore, and, cross- 
ing the Ba}^ he came to Norfolk early in 1772. Here 
he preached as a stranger from the court-house steps to 
a wondering multitude. He preached in Portsmouth, 
and. formed there the first Society of Methodists organ- 
ized south of the Potomac. The year after he visited 
Petersburg, and after preaching there a short time he 
formed a circuit reaching from that town nearly to the 
State of North Carolina. It was called Brunswick, and 
yet remains in the Minutes of the Virginia Conference 
the oldest circuit in the Southern Methodist Church. 

The way of Williams had been opened in all this re- 
gion by the labors of Archibald McRoberts and Deve- 
reux Jarratt. The former lived in Chesterfield, the lat- 
ter in Dinwiddle county ; both were zealous and faithful 
clergymen of the Established Church, and preached as 
itinerants with much success. Jarratt went out of the 
churches and preached the Word wherever he could find 
hearers ; he went " by day and by night, and at any 
time in the week, to private houses and convened the 
people for prayer, singing, preaching, and conversation." 
He made visits to twenty-nine counties in Virginia and 
North Carolina, and all the while kept up his Sunday 
services in his own parish. McRoberts was a true helper 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 199 

in this work, but he differed in doctrine from the Church 
clergy, left the Establishment and joined the Presbj^te- 
rians. He removed to Prince Edward county, Va., and 
was greatly useful in his new Church relations. 

As soon as Wesley received the reports of the mis- 
sionaries already in America he determined to send them 
help. In 1771 Francis Asbury and Richard Wright vol- 
unteered for the New World and were sent by the Eng- 
lish Conference. 

Asbury became the Wesley of America, and his name 
is worthy to be enrolled among the greatest soldiers of 
Christ. He has left a brief account of his experience 
in coming to America. Speaking of the Conference at 
which he volunteered for the work, he says : " Before 
this I had felt for half a year strong intimations in my 
mind that I should visit America, which I laid before the 
Lord, being unwilling to do my own will, or to run be- 
fore I was sent. During this time my trials were very 
great, which the Lord, I believe, permitted to prove and 
try me, in order to prepare me for future usefulness. At 
the Conference it was proposed that some preachers 
should go over to the American continent. I spoke my 
mind, and made an offer of mj^self. It was accepted bj^" 
Mr. Wesley and others, who judged I had a call. From 
Bristol I went home to acquaint my parents with my 
great undertaking, which I opened in as gentle a manner 
as possible. Though it was grievous to flesh and blood, 
they consented to let me go. My mother is one of the 
tenderest parents in the world ; but I believe she was 
blessed in the present instance with divine assistance to 
part with me. I visited most of my friends in Stafford- 
shire, Warwickshire, and Gloucestershire, and felt much 
life and power among them. Several of our meetings 
were, indeed, held in the Spirit and life of God. Many 



■200 A IIISTOrtY OF ]METIIODISM 

of my friends were struck with wonder when they heard 
of my going ; but none opened their mouths against it, 
hoping it was of God. Some wished tliat their situation 
would allow them to go with me. 

"I returned to Bristol in the latter end of August, 
where Richard Wright was waiting for me, to sail in a 
few days for Philadelphia. When I came to Bristol I 
had not one penny of money ; but the Lord soon opened 
the hearts of friends, who supplied me with clothes and 
ten pounds. Thus I found by experience that the Lord 
will provide for those who trust in him. 

" On Wednesdaj^ September 2, we set sail from a port 
near Bristol ; and having a good wind, soon passed the 
channel. For three days I was very ill with the sea- 
sickness ; and no sickness I ever Iniew was equal to it. 
The captain behaved well to us. On the Lord's day, 
September 8, Brother W. preached a sermon on deck, 
and all the crew gave attention. 

"Thursday, 12th. I will set down a few things that 
lie on my mind. Whither am I going ? To the New 
World. What to do? To gain honor? No, if I know 
my own heart. To get money? No, I am going to live 
to God, and to bring others so to do. In America there 
has been a work of God : some moving first among the 
Friends, but in time it declined ; likewise by the Pres- 
byterians, but among them also it declined. The people 
God owns in England are the Methodists. The doc- 
trines they preach and the discipline they enforce are, I 
believe, the purest of any people now in the world. The 
Lord has greatly blessed these doctrines and this dis- 
cipline in the three kingdoms ; they must therefore be 
pleasing to him. If God does not acknowledge me in 
America, I will soon return to England. I know my 
views are upright now — may they never be otherwise !" 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOrLE. 201 

In October they landed at Philadelphia. Asbury sa3^s : 
" When I came near the American shore, my very heart 
melted within me ; to think whence I came, where I was 
going, and what I was going about. But I felt my mind 
open to the people, and m}'' tongue loosed to speak. I 
felt that God is here, and find plenty of all I need." 
Asbury said he found about three hundred members in 
New York, two hundred and fifty in Philadelphia, and 
a few in New Jersey. He says nothing of those in 
Marjdand and Virginia. In the whole country there 
were probably five hundred Methodists. 

As an itinerant, Asbury entered upon his work in the 
true spirit of the gospel. Before he came the preachers 
had spent nearly their whole labor on the cities. He 
says : "My brethren seem unwilling to leave the cities, 
but I think I shall show them the way. I am come over 
with an upright intention, and through the grace of God 
I will make it appear ; and I am determined that no 
man shall bias me with soft words and fair speeches. 
Whomsoever I please or displease, I will be faithful to 
God, to the people, and to m}^ own soul. From the date 
of this resolution to his death — forty-five j^ears after- 
wards — he adhered to his purpose with unsurpassed firm- 
ness and fidelit}^ The example of Asbury must have 
stimulated his brethren, for the next year Mr. Pillmore 
went through Yu'ginia, and as far southward as Savan- 
nah, Ga., while Mr. Boardman went north as far as 
Boston. 

No regular Conference of the American preachers 
was held until 1773 ; but in the meantime they considered 
matters of special importance at their quarterly meet- 
ings. Let us look at one of the little gatherings, and 
see the beginning of our now complicated and imposing 
Conferences. At one of these meetings, on the western 

14 



202 A HISTORY OF 3IETII0DISM 

shore of Maryland, Mr. Asbury preached on the duties 
of the ministry, and then the preachers took up " their 
temporal business." 

" 1. What are our collections ? We found them suffi- 
cient to defray our expenses. 

" 2. How are the preachers stationed ? 

"3. Shall we be strict in our society meetings, and 
not admit strangers? Agreed. 

"4. Shall we drop preaching in the day time through 
the week ? Not agreed to. 

5. "Will the people be content without our adminis- 
tering the sacraments ? John King was neuter ; brother 
Strawbridge pleaded much for the ordinances, and so 
did the people, who seemed to be much biassed by him. 
I told them I would not agree to it at that time, and in- 
sisted on our abiding by our rules. 

"6. Shall we make collections weekly to pay the 
preachers, board and expenses ? This was not agreed 
to. We then inquired into the moral character of the 
preachers and exhorters." 

Such is Asbury' s account of one of the primitive quar- 
terly meetings. 

The first Annual Conference was held at Philadelphia 
July 14, 1773. There were six or seven preachers pres- 
ent. The whole number of members was 1160. In New 
York 180, in Philadelphia 180, in New Jersey 200, in 
Maryland 500, and in Virginia 100. Six circuits were 
formed and ten preachers stationed. 

The year following was one of great success. On the 
Eastern Shore of Maryland there was a gracious revival. 
A Society was formed not far from New York city, in 
Baltimore there was a large increase, and a new church 
was built at Fell's Point, which was the first erected in 
the city. Asbury was the stationed preacher, but he did 



FOn OOl YOUXG PEOPLE. 203 

not confine himself to the city. He went out into the 
country preaching nearly every da}', and rejoiced to see 
the -work of God spreading with power among the peo- 
ple. Early in 1774 the Baltimore Methodists laid the 
foundation of another church, Light Street, which be- 
came famous as one of the most powerful centres of 
Methodism in the country. 

At the second Conference, held in Philadelphia in 
May, 1774, the number of members was 2,073, showing an 
increase of over 900. Seven preachers were received on 
trial, most of whom were fruits of the revivals which 
blessed the infant Church. At this Conference the prac- 
tice of examining the character of the preachers was 
established nnder the question, "Are there any objec- 
tions to an}^ of the preachers?" It is stated that '-they 
were examined one by one." The work of revival was 
ver}' powerful in various sections of the countr}", and the 
reports greatly encouraged the laborers. Robert Wil- 
liams gave a cheering report from his field. "I met 
Brother Williams, from Virginia," says Asbury, "who 
gave me a great account of the work of God in those 
parts ; five or six hundred souls justified b}^ faith, and 
five or six circuits formed, so that we now have fourteen 
circuits in America, and about twenty-two preachers are 
required to supply them." Asbury speaks of Williams 
as "a singular man, but honest in his intentions, andj 
sincerely engaged for the prosperity of the work." 



204 A HISTORY OF METHODISM 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

At tpie third Conference held at Philadelphia in May, 
1775, the numbers in society were 3,148. The increase 
was over one thousand. The country was on the eve of 
the Revolutionary war, and as most of the preachers 
were Englishmen, their sympathies were naturally on 
the side of the mother country. This hindered their 
usefulness to some extent. The Conference appointed 
" a general fast for the prosperity of the work, and for 
the peace of America." 

Asbury was appointed to labor in Norfolk, Ya. ; he 
came to his work and found about " thirty persons in 
society, but they had no class-meetings," and no preach- 
ing place but " an old shattered building which had been 
a play-house." Asbury at once set to work to build a 
church, but the work went on slowly. Hearing of a 
great revival in Brunswick under the preaching of Rev. 
George Shadford, he went to his help. The work in all 
that region of country was fearful in power. Great 
crowds flocked to hear the Methodist preachers, and 
under preaching hundreds would be seized with trem- 
bling and fall helpless to the ground. Eighteen hun- 
dred members were added to the Church as the fruits of 
this revival. The work spread through fourteen counties 
in Virginia and into several in North Carolina. In the 
counties bordering on Maryland there was a gracious 
outpouring of the Spirit. In the class-meetings it was 
no uncommon sight to see the seats crowded with peni- 
tents. Mr. Jarratt says : " Sometimes twelve or fifteen 
find the Lord at one class-meeting. I am just returned 



FOn OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 205 

from meeting two classes. Much of the power of God 
was in each." Mr. Eankin, who came to aid in the re- 
vival, says of one of his sermons and the effect produced : 
" I had gone through about two-thirds of my discourse, 
and was bringing the words home to the present noiv, 
when such power descended that hundreds fell to the 
ground, and the house seemed to shake with the presence 
of God. The chapel was full of white and black, and 
many were without that could not get in. Look where 
we would, we saw nothing but streaming eyes and faces 
bathed in tears, and heard nothing but groans and strong 
cries after God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Husbands 
were inviting their wives to go to heaven, wives their 
husbands, parents their children, and children their pa- 
rents, brothers their sisters, and sisters their brothers. 
This mighty effusion of the Spirit continued for above 
an hour." Again he sa3^s : " What a work is God work- 
ing in this corner of Mr. Jarratt's parish ! It seemed as 
if all the countr}^ for ten miles around were ready to 
turn to God." 

He went into North Carolina, where the same scenes 
were repeated, and thousands wept and turned from their 
sins to the livinsj God. 

The Conference for 1776 was held at Baltimore, Md. 
The increase from the revivals was one thousand and 
eight hundred. There were eleven Circuits, and twenty- 
five preachers were sent to supply them. The war was 
now raging, and the whole country filled with alarm. 
Into many places the preachers could not go, and the 
work languished, and many fell away to the world. But 
still, at the little Conference held at Deer Creek, ni 
Maryland, in 1777, the reported increase was above two 
thousand members and twelve preachers. The entire 
membership was nearlj^ seven thousand, with thirty-six 



206 A HISTORY OF :methodism 

preachers. Mr. Eankin and Mr. Shadford now left tlie 
country and returned to England ; but Asbury would 
not consent to go with them. " I had resolved," he says 
"not to depart from the work on any consideration." 
When his brethren had sailed for England, he says : " So 
we are left alone. But I leave mj^self in the hands of 
God, reljnng on his good providence to direct and pro- 
tect us, persuaded that nothing will befall us but what 
shall conduce to his glory and my benefit." 

In 1778 the Conference was held at Leesburg, Va. 
The ravages of war told on the infant Church. The de- 
crease was eight hundred and seventy-three members 
and five preachers. Asbury took refuge from the storm 
of war in the State of Delaware, where he remained for 
nearly a year, calmly watching for the doors to be again 
opened. But he was not idle. Though he could not 
preach on the Sabbath, he would go out at night, and 
from house to house speak words of warning and comfort 
to the few people that gathered to hear him. He says it 
was " a season of the most active, most useful, and suf- 
fering part of his life." 

Some of the preachers who ventured out on their Cir- 
cuits were the victims of severe persecution. Freeborn 
Garrettson, preaching in Maryland, was beaten nearly to 
death by a brutal man while on his way to an appoint- 
ment. He was thrown from his horse with great vio- 
lence, and lay on the ground insensible. A kind lady, 
passing by, had him removed to a house, where he was 
bled and restored to his senses. His persecutor, think- 
ing he would die, showed signs of penitence ; but when 
he saw that the preacher was likely to recover, he went 
for a magistrate, and the two came and " appeared as if 
actuated by the devil." Mr. Garrettson says : 

"With a stern look the magistrate demanded my 



FOR OLTl YOUNG PEOPLE. 207 

name. I told him ; and he took out his pen and ink and 
began to write a mittimus to commit me to jail. ' Pray, 
sir,' said I, ' are you a justice of the peace ?' He replied 
that he was. ' Why, then,' said I, ' do you suffer men to 
behave in this manner ? If such persons are not taken 
notice of, a stranger can with no degree of safety travel 
the road.' 'You have,' said he, 'broken the law.' 'How 
do you know that ?' answered I ; ' but suppose I have, is 
this the way to put the law in force against me ? I am an 
inhabitant of this State, and have property in it ; and, if 
I mistake not, the law says, for the first ofi'ence the fine 
is five pounds, and double for every ofi'ence after. The 
grand crime was preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, in which I greatly rejoice. My enemy,' said I, 
' conducted himself more like a highwayman than a per- 
son enforcing the law in a Christian countr}^ Be well 
assured, this matter will be brought to light,' said I, ' in 
awful eternit3^' He dropped his pen, and made no far- 
ther attempt to send me to prison. By this time, the 
woman who bled me came with a carriage, and I found 
myself able to rise from my bed and give an exhortation 
to the magistrate, my persecutor, and others who were 
present." 

Joseph Hartley, another preacher, was seized in Talbot 
county and confined in jail ; but this did not stop him 
from preaching. The people collected about the prison, 
he preached to them through the bars of the window, 
many were cut' to the heart and began to seek the 
Lord. Some of the people said they had better let him 
go, for if they kept him in jail, he would convert the 
whole town. 

In Queen Anne's county he was forbidden to preach, 
but he would go to his appointments, and after singing 
and praying, from his knees would exhort the people to 



208 A rnsTORY of ^iethodism 

turn to God. His opposers could not restrain his zeal, 
and they said he had as well preach standing as upon 
his knees. During nearly the whole of the Revolutionary 
war the Methodist preachers in some parts of the coun- 
try were severely maltreated. Mr. Garrettson was ar- 
rested in Dorchester county, Md., and thrust into prison. 
He had no bed, but lay on the bare floor, with his saddle- 
bags for a pillow, with two large windows open upon him, 
but he had peace in his heart, and rejoiced that he 
was counted worthy to suffer for the cause of Christ. 
Before his trial came on he was released by the appeals 
of Mr. Asbury and the Governor of Delaware to the 
Governor of Maryland. He immediately began his work 
of preaching, and near the place where he was imprisoned 
he preached to many thousands, had a great revival, and 
among the converts were some of his persecutors. 

At the close of the war the number of Methodists was 
found to be over 13,000, and the increase for one year 
was about 2,000. When peace was declared in 1783, the 
preachers went into the old circuits whence they had been 
driven by the war, and were received by the people with 
great joy. Religion revived, and great numbers were 
brought into the Church, eleven new circuits were added, 
and the bold itinerants were pushing their way westward 
after the hard}'' settlers. Alleghany, Cumberland, and 
Holston, were reported as new fields. 

We have now reached a period when American Meth- 
odism took properl}" the form of an independent Chris- 
tian Church. The war which freed the Colonies from all 
political allegiance to England also broke the ties be- 
tween the Established Church of England and the Epis- 
copal Churches of this country. The English Govern- 
ment had no authority here either civil or ecclesiastical. 
In this state of affairs, Mr. AYesley did not hesitate to 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 209 

provide for the necessities of the Methodist Societies 
which had grown up under the labors of his missionaries. 
He ordained Dr. Thomas Coke, one of his preachers and 
a Presbyter in the Church of England, a Superintendent 
or Bishop, and sent him to America to organize the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. He also appointed Francis 
Asburj^ a man tried and true, as joint Superintendent 
with Dr. Coke. Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Yasey 
were also ordained Elders to assist the Superintendents 
in governing the churches and in administering baptism 
and the Lord's Supper. 

Dr. Coke and Messrs. Whatcoat and Vasey reached 
New York November ord, 1783. They came into the 
State of Delaware the same month, where they met Mr. 
Asbury. 

At Barrett's Chapel a sort of Conference was held b}^ 
a few preachers, and Dr. Coke having stated Mr. Wes- 
ley's views, " it was agreed to call a General Conference, 
to meet at Baltimore the ensuing Christmas." Mr. Gar- 
rettson was immediately sent off to Virginia to notify 
the preachers of this important event. Dr. Coke spent 
the intervening time in preaching at various places, while 
Asbury pondered gravely the great matter of a new and 
independent Church. He fasted and prayed that he 
" might know the will of God in the matter that was to 
come before the Conference." He adds : '• The preach- 
ers and people seemed to be much pleased with the pro- 
jected plan. I mj^self am led to think it is from the 
Lord. I am not tickled with the honor to be gained. I 
see danger in the way. My soul waits upon God. Oh 
that he may lead us in the way we should go." 

On the 25th day of December, 1784, sixty out of the 
eighty-three American itinerant preachers met in the 
city of Baltimore. From the day on which it assembled 



210 A HISTOrtY OF ]METH0DIS3I 

this meeting is known as " Tlie Christmas Conference." 
The first act was to elect Dr. Coke and Mr. Asbury as 
General Superintendents. The latter was first ordained 
deacon, then elder, and then Dr. Coke, assisted by elders, 
consecrated him to the office of Superintendent. The 
Conference also elected twelve of the leading ministers 
to be ordained elders. Two were set apart for the work 
in Nova Scotia, and one for the West Indies. Three 
were elected deacons. 

The articles of religion and the form of discipline 
sent over by Mr. Wesley were adopted by the Confer- 
ence, and the organization of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church was completed. The Methodists greatl}^ rejoiced 
in this work. For many years they had been without 
the privilege of receiving the sacraments at the hands 
of the ministers who had led them to Christ. Of this 
they loudly complained, and in Virginia at one period 
the preachers in Conference determined to ordain men 
for this work, and did actually proceed to do so, but at 
the earnest solicitation of Asbury, and other leading 
men, they decided to await the action of Mr. Wesley. 
Now the}^ became a Church, and the first Episcopal 
Church organized in America. After organizing a 
Church, the next step was to establish a College. The 
institution was named Cokesbury, after the two Bishops, 
and was built at Abingdon, Maryland. In their "Plan 
for Erecting a College," the Bishops said the Church 
had three objects in view : 1. To make provision for the 
education of the sons of the Methodist ministers. 2. 
To provide for the education of poor orphans. 3. To 
establish a Seminary for the education of "the children 
of our competent friends, where religion and learning 
may go hand in hand." " It will be expected," said the 
Bishops in their circular to the churches, " that all our 



FOR OUK YOUNG TEOrLE. 211 

friends who send their chiidren to the College will, if 
they be able, pay a moderate sum for their education 
and board ; the rest will be taught and boarded, and, if 
our finances will allow of it, clothed gratis. The insti- 
tution is also intended for the benefit of our young men 
who are called to preach, that they may receive a mea- 
sure of that improvement which is highly expedient as 
a preparative for public service." 

The College building was a fine edifice, one hundred 
and eight feet long and forty feet wide, and was arranged 
with a view to utility and comfort. The Methodists gave 
liberall}'', and five thousand dollars were secured in 
money subscriptions before they began to build. In 
December, 1787, the institution was opened, Bishop As- 
bury preaching on a curious text, 2 Kings iv : 40, " O 
thou man of God, there is death in the pot." Was the 
text prophetic ? After ten years' successful work the 
College was burned down. Asbury was much discour- 
aged by this disaster, and said the "enemies of the Col- 
lege may rejoice, its friends need not mourn. Would 
any man give me ten thousand pounds a year to do and 
suffer again what I have done for that house, I would 
not do it." 

But Dr. Coke was not dispirited. By the aid of a few 
wealthy friends he gathered nearly five thousand dollars, 
purchased a building in Baltimore, and reopened the 
College. But this house was also burned through the 
carelessness of some boys who made a bonfire in an old 
building near it ; and, after losing nearly fifty thousand 
dollars, the Methodists quit the College business for 
man}^ years. 

While the Bishops were working at their College, zeal- 
ous preachers were spreading Methodism in far distant 
places. Messrs. Garrettson and Cromwell, who had 



212 A HISTORY OF jMETHODISM 

been set apart for the work in Nova Scotia, reached that 
field after a stormy voj^age and opened their mission. 
They had been preceded by William Black, a Wesleyan 
from England, who had preached with much success at 
Halifax, N. S., and in New Brunswick. 

Wherever Methodists appeared they had to combat 
false doctrines. Here they found a singular sect called 
Allenites, from their leader, who bitterly opposed them. 
One of the leaders said to Mr. Garrettson that " death 
would slay more sins for her than were ever destroyed 
before." And she added, " As for sin, it cannot hurt 
me, not even adultery, murder, swearing, drunkenness, 
nor any other sin, can break the union between me and 
Christ." Another said to Garrettson, running after him, 
*' Sir, I like part of your doctrine, but part I do not 
like." " What part do you not like ?" said Garrettson. 
" You say a saint may fall." " Will j^ou answer me one 
question?" said G. "Do you know that you were ever 
converted ?" " I do." " How do matters now stand be- 
tween God and your soul?" " Wh}^, it is a winter state." 
" But," said G., " are you not now living in open sin 
against God ?" The man paused, but at last confessed 
that he was living in open sin, and this he called the 
" winter state" of a saint. What awful delusion ! 

Wesley, who ever had his eye upon the whole field of 
Methodism, and who fully worked up to his maxim, " The 
World is my parish," no sooner heard that the missiona- 
ries had reached Nova Scotia than he sent them an en- 
couraging letter, and urged that those who were taken 
into Society should be made to understand " the whole 
Methodist plan, and not allowed to rest in being half 
Christians." " Whatever they do," says the grand old 
loader, " let them do it with their might, and it will be 
well, as soon as any of them find peace with God, to ex- 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 213 

hort them to go on to perfection. The more explicitly 
and strongly you press believers to aspire after full sanc- 
tification, as attainable now by simple faith, the more 
the work of God will prosper." The exhortation is as 
appropriate now as it was nearly a hundred years ago. 
It seems that AYesley had been written to for aid to 
help build churches in America. He referred to this in 
this letter, and said the English Methodists did not roll 
in money, and that it was very difficult to raise two or 
three thousand dollars to meet their current expenses. 
But he adds, "It is true they might do much, but it is a 
sad observation, they that have most money have usually 
least grace." Alas, that such a proverb should find a 
home in the Church of Christ. 



214 A IIISTOKY OF JEETHODISM 



CHAPTER XIX. 

While the work was being pushed in the far North, the 
far South was opened by the great pioneer Bishop, As- 
bury. In February, 1785, Asbury, Jesse Lee, and Hen- 
ry Willis reached Charleston, S. C. On Sunday Lee 
preached in an old church belonging to the Baptists. The 
preachers lodged with a merchant named Edgar Wells, 
who, though a worldly man, kindly entertained them. 
When the preachers came to his house he was preparing 
to go to the theatre, but he changed his plan and went 
to preaching, became a penitent, and was soon converted. 

Asbury remained in the city a week or two, preaching 
every day and sometimes twice a day, explaining to the 
people "the essential doctrines of Methodism." When 
he closed his visit he left " some under gracious impres- 
sions." The work of these missionaries was successful 
in opening several new Circuits in the South. When the 
reports were made at Conference, Georgia, the whole 
State, Charleston, Georgetown, and Broad River, in 
South Carolina, and New River, in North Carolina, as 
well as Lancaster, in Virginia, and St. Mary's, in Mary- 
land, were added to this widening field. 

The whole number of members in 1786 was eighteen 
thousand, and of preachers one hundred and four. The 
increase was thirty-six hundred members and twenty-one 

preachers. 

The Western wilds were opened by the daring hunter, 
DanielBoone,inl775. In that year he went into Ken- 
tucky, then a part of Virginia, and after a partial explo- 
ration of the country, returned with such favorable re- 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 215 

ports of the fertility of the soil that numbers of hardy 
pioneers set out for this new country. It was settled up 
so rapidly, that in 1792 it was received as one of the 
States of the Union. As in many other parts of the 
world, local preachers founded Methodism in Kentucky. 
Rev. Mr. Tucker was descending the Ohio with a com- 
pany of emigrants, when they were attacked by Indians, 
and Tucker was mortally wounded. He fell on his 
knees, and died praising God. Before he was killed, by 
his courage and skill, he saved the boat and the people 
in it from the fury of the savages. 

In 1786 Revs. James Haw and Benjamin Ogden were 
sent to this distant and dangerous field, where they were 
greatly blessed in saving souls. 

At the Virginia Conference volunteers were called for 
to go to Georgia. Thomas Humphries and John Major 
offered and were accepted. They made a circuit on the 
banks of the Savannah, and during the year organized a 
number of Societies, with a membership of four hundred. 

In Maryland there was a great revival. On Talbot 
Circuit five hundred were converted, and of the older 
members more than a hundred professed perfect love. 

Besides the general revivals in the States, the labors 
of Dr. Coke in the West Indies, in connection with 
_ others, resulted in a great revival among the blacks. In 
the island of Antigua more than a thousand were gath- 
ered into the Societies. 

The most powerful revivals occurred in Virginia, be- 
ginning at Petersburg and extending southward through 
Brunswick, Sussex, and other counties. Jesse Lee, in 
his " History of the Methodists," says that Petersburg 
"never before witnessed such wonderful displays of the 
presence and love of God in the salvation of immortal 
souls." 



216 A HISTORY OF ]METII0DIS3I 

The people were as deeply interested in the work as 
the preachers, and their exhortations were honored with 
God's approval, and scores were converted at prayer 
and class-meetinofs. In Sussex and Brunswick the work 
was most remarkable. The meetings were often held 
for five or six Lours, and sometimes all night. At a. 
Quarterly Meeting at Mabry's, several hundred were 
awakened, and above a hundred were converted in two 
da^^s. At Jones', in Sussex, still a regular preaching 
place on the Sussex Circuit, a meeting was held in July 
of extraordinary power. "The sight of the mourners," 
says Jesse Lee, "was enough to penetrate the most care- 
less heart. The divine power was felt among the people 
before the preachers came together." 

Many of the young converts came to this meeting from 
Mabry's, and gave a fresh impulse to the services. The;' 
engaged in a pra3^er-meeting before the regular hour for 
preaching, and when the preachers came within half a 
mile of the church they heard the songs and shoutings 
of the people. When they came up, they found large 
numbers of penitents weeping in the church and outside 
in the yard. " Some were lying and struggling as if 
they were in the agonies of death ; others lay as if they 
were dead. Hundreds of the believers were so over- 
come with the power of God that they fell down and 
lay helpless on the floor or ground ; and some of them 
continued in that helpless condition for a considera- 
ble time, and were happy in God beyond descrip- 
tion." 

The next day the church-members met early to receive 
the sacrament. Some of the preachers went off in the 
woods to preach to the people that could not get into 
the house. The power of God fell upon the congrega- 
tion " in such a manner that they roared and screamed 



FOR OUR YOUNG TEOPLE. 217 

SO loud that the preacher could not be heard, and he was 
compelled to stop. Many scores, of both white and 
black people, fell to the earth ; and some lay in the 
deepest distress until the evening. Many of the wealthy 
people, both men and women, were seen lying in the 
dust, sweating and rolling on the ground, in their fine 
broadcloth or silks, crying for mercy." 

Not long after this meeting closed, another began at 
F. Bonner's, ten miles from Petersburg. *'The Lord 
wrought wonders among the people on that day," says 
Jesse Lee, " and as many as fifty professed to get con- 
verted before the meeting- closed." At another meetingr 
at Jones' Hole church, twelve miles from Petersburg, 
there was a meeting of great power. In the midst of 
the work, while awakened sinners were seen all over the 
house, '• some on their knees, others tying in the arms of 
their friends, others stretched on the floor, not able to 
stand, and some were convulsed, with every limb as stiff 
as a stick, the floor of the house gave way with a loud 
noise, and sunk down several feet. But the people paid 
no attention to it, and many knew nothing of the ac- 
cident, for no one was hurt." 

In the course of the summer eight hundred were con- 
verted in Amelia, sixteen hundred in Sussex, and eigh- 
teen hundred in Brunswick. In these Circuits the re- 
vival was most powerful ; but it spread to other fields, in 
which hundreds were converted. A great many found 
the Lord in the class-meetings, and in these gatherings 
of God's people for self-examination and prayer there 
were often wonderful displays of saving power. So 
deep and frequent were convictions of sin, that the peo- 
ple, white and black, while at work in their fields, would 
come together to talk about salvation — then they could 
sing and pray ; this attracting others, the meeting would 

15 



218 A HISTORY OF 3IETII0DISM 

increase in numbers and feeling until believers rejoiced 
and penitents found peace and rest in Christ. 

While the work went on in Virginia, Bishop Asbury 
and his faithful and self-denying preachers were opening 
other fields, in which Methodism has flourished and borne 
rich fruits. Freeborn Garrettson pushed northward from 
the city of New York into a wild, unknown region, un- 
der instructions from Asbury to "form as many Circuits 
as he could." Garrettson was a bold pioneer, had been 
in Nova Scotia and other places, and had seen much of 
the world ; but he almost feared to try the land that now 
lay before him up to the line of Canada. He felt un- 
easy in his mind, but, like all the heroic men of that pe- 
riod, he gave himself to " earnest prayer for direction." 
*' I knew," he says, "that the Lord was with me. In the 
nisrht season I had a dream — it seemed as if the whole 
country up the North river, as far as Lake Champlain, 
east and west, was open to my view." Several zealous 
young men were assigned to this field with him ; he gave 
them instructions how to proceed, and followed in due 
time, holding quarterly meetings and gathering members 
in every field. "I had no doubt," he says, "but that the 
Lord would do wonders, for the young men were pious, 
zealous, and laborious." God met the faith of his ser- 
vants. When they returned to the next Conference they 
reported six hundred members received into the Church. 

Bishop Asbury, with several preachers, crossed the 
Alleghany mountains, carrying the gospel into the re- 
gions beyond. Through " mud and mire," the intrepid 
Bishop made his way across mountain and valley. Rest- 
ing at an old deserted house in Tj^gart's Valley, tliey 
grazed their horses and boiled their meat. At midnight 
they brought up at Jones', after riding nearly fifty miles. 
They were in the saddle at four o'clock next morning, 



FOR OUn YOUXG PEOPLE. 219 

and on they rode, "through, devious lonely wilds, where 
no food might be found except what grew in the woods 
or was carried with them." Near midnight they stopped 
at the house of a man, who hissed his dogs at them, but 
two women, whom they had met going on to quarterly 
meeting, pacified the man, and they went in. " Our sup- 
per," says Asbmy, "was tea. Brothers Phoebus and 

Cook took to the woods — old gaA^e up his bed to 

the women. I lay along the floor on a few deer skins 
with the fleas." Their jaded horses had no corn, and 
the next da}^, after swimming the Monongahela, it took 
them ten hours to ride twent}^ miles to Clarkesburg. 
Here they preached to several hundred hearers, admin- 
istered the sacrament, and pushed on. Sunday, after 
three o'clock, they rode thirty miles and came to Father 
Haymond's near midnight. This trip was one of great 
hardships. " O, how glad should I be," says Asbur}^, 
*' of a plain, clean plank to lie on, as preferable to most 
of the beds ; and where the beds are in a bad state the 
fare is worse. This country will require much work to 
make it tolerable." Such was the toil by which the 
foundations of Methodism were laid in this country. 

When Asbury came back from the West to the Con- 
ference at Baltimore, he was cheered by a glorious revi- 
val. Under a sermon which he preached during the ses- 
sion, " the Spirit of the Lord came among the people, 
and sinners cried aloud for merc}^" In the course of 
the revival which followed three hundred were added to 
the Church. At the Conference of 1789, the results of 
the great revivals of the two previous years was seen 
in the increase of over 11,000 members and thirty-three 
preachers. 

Methodism was now about to enter a new field, in 
which it was to meet with great opposition, and in which 



220 A HISTORY OF l\IETIIODIS:\r 

it was to achieve a great success. On the 17th of June, 
1789, Jesse Lee preached at Norwalk, Connecticut. He 
obtained no church to preach in, nor even a private house. 
"I then went," he says, "into the street, and began to 
sing, and then prayed, and preached to a decent congre- 
gation." Four days later he preached at New Haven 
" to as mau}^ people as could crowd into the court-house. 
Lee formed his first Society at Stratford in September, 
and it was composed of three women. The next Society 
was formed at Reading in December, and was made up 
of two members, one man and one woman. Thus, from 
June to December, Lee, the apostle of Methodism in 
New England, had gathered five members. The cloud 
was small as a man's hand, but it was illumined by the 
bow of hope. In February, 1790, three preachers came 
to his help. Their presence revived him. At once they 
appointed a meeting. The place was an unfinished 
d¥relling. Under the sermon the power of God fell upon 
the people. " A great cry was raised, such as was not 
common in that part of the world. The people were 
alarmed ; some ran out of the house, others that were 
above in the loft ran to the end of the house and jumped 
out on the ground." Lee, now having three zealous as- 
sistants, pressed into every open door. In various places 
a few were gathered into the fold of Methodism, and to 
these others were added as the work increased. 

The leader of the itinerants now determJned to assail 
the strongholds of sin in Boston. He reached the place 
in November of 1790. He had been there in July of 
the previous year, and the zealous Garrettson had also 
visited the cit}^ but no decided efi'ort had been made to 
establish Methodism. Lee now went under regular or- 
ders from Asbury. He tells us how he introduced Meth- 
odist preaching, and how he introduced himself to the 



FOR OUK YOUNG PEOPLE. 221 

Bostonians. "I went out on the Common, and standing 
on a table began to sing, witli only a few persons pres- 
ent. But having prayed and begun to preach, the num- 
ber increased so that there were two or three thousand 
attentive hearers." He preached again the next Sunday 
to a much larger number. Lee met with much opposi- 
tion in establishins: Methodism in Boston. He be^an to 
preach in private dwellings, but he was not allowed to 
use them long ; he then hired a school-house, but after 
a short time had to give it up. At last a room was 
rented in the northern part of the city, where the few 
Methodists worshipped for a considerable time. They 
determined to build a church, and by securing help from 
various places as far south as Baltimore, they were able 
to begin the work. The corner-stone of the church vv^as 
laid on the 28th of August, 1795. "It was fixed on the 
north end," saj's Lee, "and was built of wood 46 by 36 
feet, with galleries in front and on both sides." 

After planting Methodism in Connecticut and Massa- 
chusetts, Lee pushed on to the wild Province of Maine. 
He preached his first sermon at Saco in September, 1793. 
From this time to the close of the year he travelled 
through a greater portion of the Province, carefully sur- 
veying the country and preaching wherever he could col- 
lect a congregation. The first Circuit was Peadfield, ly- 
ing on the west side of the Kennebeck river, and distant 
two hundred miles from the nearest Circuit in New Eng- 
land. 

While Lee was sowing the seed in the far northeast, As- 
bury was scattering it in the wild regions beyond the Alle- 
ghany. Such was the fear of Indians that the Bishop was 
compelled to travel with a guard. In his Journal he gives 
an idea of the perils through which he passed in carry- 
ing the "glad tidings of salvation to the dwellers in the 



222 A nisTonY of Methodism 

wilderness." " This morning we again swam the Laurel 
river and the west fork thereof. My horse was ready to 
fall. I was steeped with water up to the waist. How 
much I have suffered in this journey is only known to 
God and myself.' 

Again he says, speaking of his travels and of the 
rumor of hostile Indians, "We came the old way by 
Scagg's Creek and Rock Castle, as it is a road less fre- 
quented by the savages. My body by this time was well 
tired. I had a violent fever and pain in my head ; and 
I stretched myself on the cold ground, and borrowing 
clothes to keep me warm, by the mercy of God I slept 
five hours. Next morning we set off early, and passed 
beyond E-ichland Creek. Here we were in danger, if 
anywhere. I could have slept, but was afraid. Seeing 
the drowsiness of the compan}^ I walked the encamp- 
ment and watched the sentries all night." But no In- 
dian came. They moved on next morning, and safely 
reached the settlements. Asbury adds, "Rest, poor 
house of clay, from such exertions ! Return, O my soul, 
to thy rest." 



FOK OUK YOUNG PEOPLE. 223 



CHAPTER XX. 

Having traced the progress of Methodism in America 
for twenty years, we now return to Wesley and his work 
in England. We have said that in 1769 Wesley sent 
Boardman and Pillmore to America as missionaries. It 
is a singular fact that Wesley made the first missionary 
collection in England the same year that the Methodists 
in New York opened their rigging loft. In 1767 he took 
a collection for Missions at Newcastle. Soon after, he 
came to London to hold the Conference. Now, for the 
first time, a complete list of the members was given. 
Twenty-fiv^e thousand nine hundred and eleven had been 
gathered as the fruit of incessant toil in England, Scot- 
land, and Ireland. There were forty-one Circuits, and 
one hundred and four itinerants. This was the result of 
twenty-eight years' work. 

Wesley and Whitefield were both growing old, but 
neither paused in the great work. After one of his 
grand field days, Whitefield wrote : " I am just come 
from my field throne. Thousands and thousands at- 
tended by eight in the m.orning. Let me enjoy m3^self 
in my delightful itinerancj^ It is good, both for my 
body and soul." 

Wesley was abreast of his ardent brother in all work. 
One of his rules was never to disappoint a congregation. 
Peter Martin, a parish sexton at Helstone for sixty -five 
years, related an anecdote which shows Wesle3''s cour- 
age. "One dny he came," says Martin, "and obtained 
my master's leave for me to drive him to St. Ives. On 
arriving at Havle, we found the roads between that 



224 . A mSTOKY OF IklETHODISM 

place and St. Ives overflown by the rising tide. Mr. 
Wesle}^ was resolved to go on ; for he said he had to 
preach at St. Ives at a certain hour, and mnst be there. 
Looking out of the carriage window, he called, ' Take 
the sea ! take the sea !' In a moment I dashed into the 
waves, and was quickly involved in a world of waters. 
The horses were swimming, and the wheels of the car- 
riage not unfrequently sunk into deep hollows in the 
sands. I expected every moment to be drowned, but 
heard Mr. Wesley's voice and saw his long white hair 
dripping with salt water. ' What is jouy name, driver ?' 
he calmly asked. I answered, ' Peter.' ' Peter,' said he, 
' Peter, fear not ; thou shalt not sink.' With vigorous 
whipping, I again urged on the flagging horses, and at 
last got safely over. Mr. Wesley's first care was to see 
me comfortably lodged at the tavern ; and then, totally 
unmindful of himself, and drenched as he was with the 
dashing waves, he proceeded to the chapel and preached 
according to his appointment." 

Wesley carried the interests of all the work upon his 
heart all the time. At the request of a gentleman from 
New Enoiand, he made a collection for the Indian schools 
in America. He says with much point : "A large sum 
of money is now collected ; but will money convert 
heathens ? Find preachers of David Brainerd's spirit, 
and nothing can stand before them ; but without this, 
what good will gold or silver do? No more than lead 
or iron. They have, indeed, sent thousands to hell, but 
never yet brought a soul to heaven." True, we must 
have men of the right spirit in the Mission work, but 
they must also have means to keep them alive while do- 
ing their hard work. Men and money are both needed 
to carry the gospel to the heathen. 

In his work, Wesley had the happiness .to know that 



FOK our. YOUNG PEOPLE. 225 

Metliotlism brouo'ht blessino-s to all classes. One of the 
nobles of England, who heard the gospel from the lips 
of the despised itinerants, was brought to know Christ 
as a Saviour. His life was pure and faithful, and when 
this man, the Earl of Buchan, came to die, his last words 
were, " Happy, happy, happy !" In Scotland a minister 
of the Kirk met one of his hearers, a poor old woman, 
on the street, and said to her, " Oh, Janet, where have 
ye been, woman ? I have no' seen ye at the Kirk for 
long." "I go," said Janet, "among the Methodists." 
"Among the Methodists!" quoth the minister; "why, 
what gude get ye there, woman?" "Glory to God !" re- 
plied Janet. "I do get gude ; for God, for Christ's sake, 
has forgiven me aw my sins!" "Ah, Janet," said the 
minister, "be not high-minded, but fear; the devil is a 
cunning adversary." "I dunna' care a button for the 
devil," answered Janet ; " I've gotten him under my feet. 
I ken the devil can do muckle deal, but there is one thing 
he canna' do." "What is that, Janet !" "He canna' shed 
abroad the love of God in my heart ; and I am sure I've 
got it there !" " Weel, weel !" leplied the good tempered 
man, "if ye have got it there, Janet, hold it fast, and 
never let it go." 

One great power of Methodism was in its h3^mns, and 
we have noticed the happy effects produced by the hearty 
singing of the Wesleyans. In this delightful part of 
pablic worship Wesley sought to train his people with 
great care. In view of this fact the reader can well ap- 
preciate the following indignant paragraph : He was in- 
vited to preach in a parish church, and thus spoke of the 
singing : "I was greatly disgusted at the manner of the 
singing. 1. Twelve or fourteen persons kept it all to 
themselves, and quite shut out the congregation. 2. 
These repeated the same words, contrary to all sense and 



226 A lirSTOJlY OK ^iktiiodism 

rejison, six or eight times over. 3. According to the 
shocking custom of modern music, different persons sang 
different words a,t one and the same moment ; an intol- 
erable insult on common sense, and utterly incompatible 
with any devotion."' There was no better judge of music 
and good singing than John Wesley. At the Conference 
he gave the following directions on congregational sing- 
ing : " Beware of formality in singing, or it will creep in 
upon us unawares. Is it not creeping on already, b}'' 
those complex tunes which it is scarce possible to sing 
with devotion? Such is, 'Praise the Lord, ye blessed 
ones !' Such the long quavering Hallelujah, annexed to 
the Morning Song tune, which I defy any man living to 
sing devoutly. The repeating the same word so often, 
especially where another repeats different words, shocks 
all common sense, brings in dead formality, and has no 
more of religion in it than a Lancashire hornpipe. Do 
not suffer the people to sing too slow. This naturally 
tends to formality, and is brought in by those who have 
very strong or weak voices. Why should not the assist- 
ant see that they be taught to sing in every large so- 
ciety ?" 

Wesley was now (1768) in his sixty-sixth year, but Jie 
went on with the zeal and vigor of early youth. In a 
tour in Cornwall he preached for eight days together, 
three or four times a day, and mostly in the open air, 
and he sa3^s : " I hardly felt any weariness, first or last.'* 
In this country his lodgings were not of the best. At 
one place his bed-room was filled with fish and eels which 
made him glad to escape from it. In his journeys, Wes- 
ley rode for a great part of his life on horseback, and he 
made an entry in his Journal in reference to his experi- 
ence in studying on horseback. "Nearly thirty j^ears 
ago," he says, "I was thinking, 'How is it that no horse 



FOR OUR YOrxa PEOPLE. 227 

ever stumbles while I am reading ?' (History, poetry, 
and philosophy, I commonly read on horseback, having 
other employment at other times.) No account can pos- 
sibly be given but this : because, then I throw the reins 
on his neck. I then set mj^self to observe ; and I aver, 
that, in riding above a hundred thousand miles, I scarce 
ever remember any horse (except two that would fall 
head over heels any way), to fall, or make a considerable 
stumble, while I rode with a slack rein. To fanc}^ there- 
fore, that a tight rein prevents stumbling is a capital 
blunder. I have repeated the trial more frequently than 
most men in the kingdom can do. A slack rein will pre- 
vent stumbling if an^^thing will. But in some horses no- 
thing can." 

The reports which reached England of the rapid pro- 
gress of Methodism in America excited in the mind of 
"\Yesley a strong desire to go to the help of his faithful 
missionaries. But to this there were very serious obsta- 
cles. He was nearly seventy years old ; if he should 
leave England, who would take the management of the 
work at home ? There was certainly no man who could 
supply his place ; and if he should determine to go, the 
Methodists would rise ag-ainst it all over the kino'dom. 
He said : '• If I go to America, I must do a thing which 
I hate as bad as I hate the devil." "What is that?" 
asked a friend. "I must keep a secreV — meanini^ he 
must conceal his purpose from the Societies. 

The time was now near when Methodism was to .lose 
one of its great leaders. Whitefield was about to make 
his last voyage to America. He was very feeble in 
bod}^, but his zeal was flaming out in all its brightness 
and power. For six months before he sailed he rambled 
over England, preaching three or four times a week to 
great multitudes, glorying in the signs of God's ap- 



228 A HISTORY OF I^IETHODISM 

proval, and exclaiming : "Field preaching for ever !" In 
September, 1769, he left the shores of England. In 
one year from that time he died at Newburyport, Mas- 
sachusetts. The last year that he spent in America was 
one of glorious toil. From Georgia to New England he 
moved as a pillar of gospel fire. The day before his 
death he preached two hours in the open air. Next morn- 
ing at six he entered paradise. Just before he began his 
last sermon a friend said to him : '• Sir, you are more fit 
to go to bed than to preach." "True," said the dying- 
hero, and then clasping his hands, he said : "Lord Jesus, 
I am weary in thy work, but not of thy work." \Yhite- 
field's wish was to be buried in the yard of his own 
chapel in London, and he wanted the Wesleys to be 
buried by his side. "We will all lie together," he says ; 
"you refused them entrance here while living; they can 
do you no harm when they are dead." It had been 
agreed between "Wesley and Whitefield that whichever 
lived longest should preach the funeral of the deceased. 
In Tottenham Court chapel Wesley discharged the sad 
dut}'-. 

A great multitude gathered. "It was," says Wes- 
ley, "an awful season. All were as still as night." 
The same day he preached in the afternoon in White- 
field's tabernacle in Moorfields. His text was, "Let 
me die the death of the righteous, and let my last 
end be like his." In the death of Whitefield the Church 
lost a truly apostolic worker. In a ministry of thirty- 
four years he traversed Great Britian, visited the West 
Indies, and preached over the inhabited portion of this 
country. He delivered eighteen thousand sermons, 
crossed the ocean many times in slow sailing ships, 
faced mobs with a calm courage, and rejoiced over tens 
of thousands brought to Christ by his unequalled ser- 



FOR OUn YOUNG PEOPLE. 229 

mons. It has been truly said of him : " He was a human 
seraph, and burat out in the blaze of his own fire." 

The fall of Whitefield smote heavily the heart of Wes- 
ley, but while he staggered under the blow, he felt ready 
to take the place of the great evangelist in the American 
field. In December, 1770, he wrote to a friend: "If I 
live till spring, and should have a clear, pressing call, I 
am as ready to embark for America as for Ireland. All 
places are alike to me. I am attached to none in par- 
ticular. "Wherever the work of the Lord is to be carried 
on, thai is my place for to-day. And as we live only for 
to-day, it is not our part to take thought for to-morrow." 
But Wesle}'' could not leave the home field. This he 
continued to cultivate with increasing diligence and care. 
The days of violent persecution were almost over, but 
he had long journeys, scant fare, hard beds, and occa- 
sionally an outrage from some brute in human form. 
On one occasion, "a ruffian struck him violently in the 
face, when, with tears starting from his eyes, the venera- 
ble saint acted upon the precept of his Master, 'Whoso- 
ever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the 
other also ;' a display of heroic meekness which cowed 
the brutal coward, and made him slink away into the 
ignoble crowd." 

No man could be more unwilling than Wesley to give 
up a preaching place, and no man could have a higher 
idea of the value of workins; to save souls. He was 
told that at a certain place there was but a poor pros- 
pect of doing good, but few people attended, and he was 
urged to drop the chapel. "Does the old woman," asked 
he, "that sits In the corner of the pew, still attend?" 
"O 3'es," was the answer, "she never misses." "Then, 
for her sake, keep going," said Wesley. In a letter to 
Joseph Benson he said : "It is a shame for any Method- 



230 A HISTORY OF IMETHODISM 

ist preacher to confine himself to one place. We are 
debtors to all the world. We are called to warn every 
one, to exhort every one, if by an3/ means we may save 
some. I love prayer-meetings, and wish they were set 
up in every corner of the town." 

Wesley was now nearly seventy years old (1772), but 
not for a moment did he cease his work. He urged his 
preachers and people to seek the great blessing of Chris- 
tian perfection. In a letter to his brother, he deplores 
the neglect of this doctrine. "I find," he says, "almost 
all our preachers, in every Circuit, have d©ne with Chris- 
tian perfection. The}?' say they believe it, but they, 
never preach it, or not once a quarter. What is to be 
done ? Shall we let it drop, or make a point of it ? Oh, 
what a thing it is to have the care of souls ! You and I 
are called to this ; to save souls from death ; to watch 
over them as those that must ove account ! If our of- 
fice implied no more than preaching a few times a week, 
I could 'plsLj with it, so might you. But how small a 
part of our duty is this ! God says to you, as well as to 
me, 'Do all thou canst, be it more or less, to save the 
souls for vfhom my Son has died.' Let this voice be 
ever sounding in oiu: ears, then shall we give up our ac- 
count with joy. I am ashamed of my indolence and in- 
activity. Your business, as well as mine, is to save 
souls. I think every day lost which is not (mainly, at 
least.) employed in this thing." 

The pastoral work Wesley prized as of the greatest 
value in building his members up in the faith. In one 
of his favorite towns he found that the Society had de- 
creased. "This," he says, "lean impute to nothing but 
the want of visiting from house to house, without which 
the people will hardly increase in number or grace." 
He, though old and feeble, and suffering constantly with 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 231 

a very painful disease, led the way in this work. In Bris- 
tol he "visited the whole Society, from house to house." 
*'I know no branch of the pastoral office which is of 
greater importance than this. But it is so grievous to 
flesh and blood, that I can prevail on few, even of our 
preachers, to undertake it." 

The wide-spread suffering among the poor touched the 
heart of Wesle}^, and he made the most earnest efforts 
to secure them relief. In mid-winter he says: "Being 
greatly embarrassed by the necessities of the poor, we 
spread all our wants before God in solemn prayer, be- 
lievins: that he would sooner 'make windows in heaven,' 
than suffer his truth to fail." He published a letter in 
one of the leading papers, in which he described the aw- 
ful condition of the poor all over the kingdom, and 
pointed out some of the causes of the scarcity of food, 
and the general distress. He asked, "Why is bread- 
corn so dear ?" and answered, "Because such immense 
rjuantities of it are continually consumed by distilling. 
Indeed, an eminent distillerj near London, hearing this, 
warmlj^ replied, ' jS'ay, my partner and I generally distil 
hut a tJiousand quarters of corn a week.' Perhaps so. 
Suppose five-and-twent}'' distillers, in and noar the town, 
consume each only the same quantit}^ Here are five- 
and-twenty thousand quarters a week, that is, about 
twelve hundred and Mty thousand quarters a year, con- 
sumed in and about London ! Add the distillers through- 
out England, and have we not reason to believe that 
half of the wheat produced in the kingdom is every year 
consumed, not by so harmless a wa}^ as throwing it into 
the sea ; but by converting it into deadly poison — poison 
that naturally destroys, not onl}^ the strength and life, 
but also the morals, of our countrymen!" 

The great evil which Wesley deplores is still the great 



232 A HISTORY OF LIETIIODISM 

curse of England and this country, and indeed of the 
world. 

To find out the helpless and deserving poor a number 
of pious Methodists organized themselves into a band 
for work in visiting the workhouses, and by prayer, read- 
ing, and exhortation, souglit to lead the inmates to Christ. 
This organization still exists, and is known as " The 
Christian Community," and in its ninety-fifth annual re- 
port it is said that the society was established under the 
patronage of Rev. John Wesley in 1772. This little 
band of workers, put in shape by the abused Methodist 
leader, has grown into a great power for good in the 
midst of the wretched poor of vast London. In one 
year 463 services were held in the open air, 1,400 ad- 
dresses were delivered, and a quarter of a million of 
tracts distributed. In this work one hundred and twen- 
ty-four persons are emplo3^ed, and nearly all of them 
have appointments every week. This is the great work 
that has grown out of the little band sent out by Wesley 
to talk and pray with the huge mass of London paupers 
and vagabonds. To earnest work of this sort, Wesley 
u.rged his preachers to add earnest words from the pul- 
pit. In a letter to his brother he says : " If we only 
join faith and works in all our preaching, we shall not 
fail of a blessing. But of all preaching, what is usually 
called gospel preaching is the most useless, if not the 
most mischievous ; a dull, jea, or lively harangue on 
the sufferings of Christ, or salvation by faith, without 
strongly inculcating holiness. I see, more and more, 
that this naturally tends to drive holiness out of the 
woi-ld." 

Wesley was oppressed by many cares, and assailed 
with the utmost vehemence by his doctrinal opponents, 
in what is known as the Calvinistic controversy, but he 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 233 

did not for a moment relax his efforts to save souls. 
Fletcher came to his help in the controversy with the 
Calvinists, and has left us the proof of his genius as a 
writer and his ability as a reasoner in his Checks to Anti- 
nomianism, which are or ought to be in the hands of 
every reading Methodist. With the details of this bit- 
ter controversy we shall not weary oar readers. 

The itinerancy Wesley felt to be essential to the suc- 
cess of Methodism. He says; '-'While I live itinerant 
preachers shall be itinerants. I have too much regard 
for the bodies and souls of our preachers to let them be 
confined to one place any more." He had had some 
trouble on this score in Scotland, and says, "I have 
weighed the matter, and will serve the Scots as we do 
the English or leave them." This was written to Joseph 
Benson, who was then laboring in Scotland. He gives 
the following picture of Wesley, and coming from such 
a man as Benson, it is of real value : 

"I was," says he, "constantly with him for a week. 
I had an opportunity of examining narrowly his spirit 
and conduct ; and, I assure you, I am more than ever 
persuaded, he is a none such. I know not his fellow, 
first, for abilities, natural and acquired ; and, secondly, 
for his incomparable diligence in the application of those 
abilities to the best of emploj^ments. His lively fancy, 
tenacious memory, clear understanding, ready elocution, 
manly courage, indefatigable industr}^ really amaze me. 
I admire, but wish in vain to imitate, his diligent im- 
provement of every moment of time ; his wonderful ex- 
actness even in little things ; the order and regularity 
wherewith he does and treats everything he takes in 
hand ; together with his quick dispatch of business, and 
calm, cheerful serenit}'' of soul. I ought not to omit to 
mention, what is very manifest to all who know him, his 

16 



234 A HISTORY OF METHODISM 

resolution, which no shocks of opposition can shake ; 
his patience, which no length of trials can weary ; his 
zeal for the glory of God and the good of man, which 
no waters of persecution or tribulation have yet been 
able to quench. Happy man ! Long hast thou borne 
the burden and heat of the day, amidst the insults of 
foes, and the base treachery of seeming friends ; but 
thou shalt rest from thy labors, and thy works shall fol- 
low thee !" 



FOR OUn YOUNG PEOPLE. 235 



CHAPTER XXT. 

JoiTN Wesley had a faith in God's providence over his 
people that nothing could shake. This, added to his 
natural courage, was the cause of his calmness in the 
midst of all dangers. He had a narrow escape from death 
by drowning, as we have already told. The following is 
his account of another wonderful deliverance from a 
sudden and awful death. The Mrs. Smith to whom he 
refers was the daughter of his wife : 

"Monday, June 20. — About nine, I set out for Hors- 
ley, with Mr. Hopper and Mr. Smith. I took Mrs. 
Smith, and her two little girls, in the chaise with me. 
About two miles from the town, just on the brow of the 
hill, on a sudden both the horses set out, without any 
visible cause, and flew down the hill like an arrow. In a 
minute, John fell off the coach-box. The horses then went 
on full speed, sometimes to the edge of the ditch on the 
right, sometimes on the left. A cart came up against 
them ; they avoided it as exactly as if the man had been 
on the box. A narrow bridge was at the foot of the 
hill. They went directly over the middle of it. They 
ran up the next hill with the same speed ; many persons 
meeting us, but getting out of the wsiy. Near the top 
of the hill was a gate, which led into a farmer's yard. 
It stood open. They turned short, and run through it, 
without touching the gate on one side, or the post on the 
other. I thought, ' The gate which is on the other side 
of the yard, and is shut, will stop them ;' but they 
rushed through it, as if it had been a cobweb, and gal- 
loped on through the corn-field. The little girls cried out. 



236 A HISTORY OF IMETIIODISM 

* Grandpapa, save us !' I told them, ' Nothing will hurt 
3''0u : do not be afraid ;' feeling no more fear or care 
than if I had been sitting in my study. The horses ran 
on, till they came to the edge of a steep precipice. Just 
then Mr. Smith, who could not overtake us before, gal- 
loped in between. They stopped in a moment. Had 
they gone on ever so little, he and we must have gone 
down together !" 

On this we will give his own comment : 

"I am persuaded, that both evil and good angels had 
a large share in this transaction : how large we do not 
know now ; but we shall know hereafter. I think some 
of the most remarkable circumstances were : (1) Both 
the horses, which were tame and quiet as could be, start- 
ing out in a moment, just at the top of the hill, and run- 
ning down full speed. (2) The coachman's being thrown 
on his head with such violence, and yet not hurt at all. 
(3) The chaise running again and again to the edge of 
each ditch, and yet not into it. (4) The avoiding the 
cart. (5) The keeping just the middle of the bridge. 
(6) The turning short through the first gate, in a manner 
that no coachman in England could have turned tJiem, 
when in full gallop. (7) The going through the second 
gate as if it had been but smoke, without slackening 
their pace at all. This would have been impossible, had 
not the end of the chariot pole struck exactly oq the 
centre of the gate ; whence the whole, by the sudden im- 
petuous shock, was broke into small pieces. Lastlj'', 
that Mr. Smith struck in just then : in a minute more we 
had been down the precipice. 'Let those give thanks 
whom the Lord hath redeemed, and delivered from the 
hand of the enemy !' " 

The last twenty years of Wesley's life were as full 
of Christian labor as any previous period. In the 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 237 

midst of wars and rumors of wars, in the midst 
of angry religious disputes and political disturbances 
in the nation, he went on with his great work of preach- 
ing holiness. The American Revolutionary War hin- 
dered for a time the work of Methodism in the Colonies ; 
but it made a lods^ment in the cold region of Newfound- 
land, and there has borne rich fruits. To a London Me- 
thodist is due the honor of planting the seed in New- 
foundland. John Ploskins and his son, a lad of sixteen, 
came to the island for the purpose of earning money 
enough to take them to New England, where he wished 
to open a school. He landed at Trinity unknown and 
without money. He found himself in a "rockj^, deso- 
late country," and in a village of a " few low, mean huts, 
built of wood." He went into one of these and asked 
for something to eat. A good woman gave him some 
bread and seal meat. He saw the minister of the place, 
who advised him to go and open a school at a place 
called Old Pelican, where about fifty families lived. He 
went and opened school. The people were glad of his 
coming, and, as they had. no religious worship, the new 
schoolmaster began to read the Church praj^ers and 
Wesley's sermons. The people stood at a distance, and 
looked at him with wonder. He soon began to add ex- 
hortation to his sermon-readino;. Some few grew seri- 
ous, several became penitent, and at last a class of six- 
teen seekers was formed. Some of these were soon 
converted ; an Irish merchant, Arthur Thomy, came to 
his help, preached^ and confirmed the words of Hoskins, 
and the society soon grew to forty members with eight 
believers. The work spread, but not without persecu- 
tion. Thomy was hated by the bigoted Irish, and they 
often threatened to kill him. Once he was caught and 
daubed all over with tar. But he was saved from fur- 



238 A mSTORY OF IMETHODISM 

ther violence, the revival went on, and in a few years 
Newfoundland was one of Wesley's Circuits. 

It is wonderful that Wesley was able to do so much 
work. He was one of the most systematic and careful 
men that ever lived. Yet his zeal sometimes carried 
him beyond his strength. In Ireland he was taken sud- 
denly sick, and a doctor was sent for to see him. "You 
must rest," said the doctor. " I cannot," said Wesley. 
*' I have appointed to preach in several places, and must 
preach as long as I can speak." The doctor gave him 
medicine, and off he went. But in a day or two he was 
compelled to take his bed. For three days he lay as if 
dead. Sometimes his pulse could not be felt. While in 
this state his travelling companion, Samuel Bradburn, 
came with medicine in a cup, and said : " Sir, you must 
take this." Wesley writes : ''I thought, I will if I can 
swallow, to please him ; for it will do neither harm nor 
good. Immediately it set me to vomiting ; my heart be- 
gan to beat, and my pulse to play again ; and from that 
hour the extremity of the symptoms abated." Six days 
afterwards he was on the road asrain, " trustina; in God." 
But something besides Samuel Bradburn' s cup of physic 
had to do with his recovery. He lay ill in the house of 
a devoted Methodist. The mother of the family and 
her daughter nursed him tenderly. Great concern was 
felt for his recovery, and a few friends met at the house 
to pray that, as in the case of Hezekiah, God would add 
to his days fifteen years. As they were praying, the 
lady rose from her knees, and said : " The prayer is an- 
swered." Wesley began to recover, and lived a little 
over fifteen years. But this is not all. Alexander Ma- 
ther, one of Wesley's preachers, was in England at the 
time, and read in the newspapers that Wesley was dead. 
He says he could not believe it, and before he went to 



FOR OUn YOUNG PEOPLE. 239 

preach he opened his Bible on the words : *' Behold, I 
will add unto thy days fifteen 3^ears." He then went to 
the chapel and began to pray that the promise might be 
fulfilled in Wesley's case. As Mr. Tj'-erman says, who 
records these facts, " The skeptic will sneer, but the 
Christian will exercise an unfaltering faith in the glori- 
ous text which, in the history of the Church, has been 
confirmed in instances without number, ' The effectual, 
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.' " 

"Wesley was beloved by children because he took no- 
tice of them and alwaj'S had a kind word for them in 
the families where he lodged. Once he came to the 
house of a local preacher, who kept a boarding-school. 
While he was there two of the boys had a fight, and beat 
and scratched each other very much. The lady of the 
house brought the angry little fellows to Wesley. He 
talked to them kindly, and repeated to them these 
lines : 

" Birds in their little nests agree, 

And 'tis a shameful sight, 
"When children of one family 

Fall out, and chide, and fight." 

"You must make up with each other," he said; "go 
and shake hands." They did so. " Now," said he, 
"put 3^our arms round each other's neck, and kiss each 
other." They obej^ed. " Now," said he, " come to me.'* 
He then took two pieces of bread and butter, folded 
them together, and told each boy to take a part. He 
then said : " Now, you have broken bread together.'* 
He then put his hands upon their heads and blessed 
them. The boys became friends, and never forgot Wes- 
ley's blessing. 

When Wesley was nearly seventj^-five a most touch- 
ing scene took place at one of his Conferences. Mr. 



240 A HISTORY OF METHODISM 

Fletcher, who had been a long time in bad health, came 
to meet Wesley and his preachers. He was very feeble, 
and came into the room leaning on the arm of a friend 
and looking as pale as a ghost. As soon as the preachers 
saw him they all stood up, and Wesley went forward to 
meet his dear friend. Fletcher began to talk to the 
preachers, aud before he had said a dozen words they 
were all in tears. Wesley feared that Fletcher would 
talk too much and injure himself, and fell on his knees 
at his side and began to pray. Down knelt all the 
preachers and joined their leader in prayer. Wesley 
praj'^ed earnestly that his friend might be spared to 
them a little longer, and his faith and fervor increased 
to such a degree that at last he closed his prayer by ex- 
claiming, in strong confidence that sent a thrill through 
every heart: "He shall not die, but live, and declare 
the works of the Lord." God heard and answered the 
prayer, for Fletcher lived, though in feebleness, eight 
years before he entered heaven. 

People have often wondered how the great Methodist 
.eader could do so much work. He tells us how he was 
able to do it. In a letter to a friend he says : " You do 
not understand my manner of life. Though I am always 
m haste, I am never in a hurry, because I never under- 
take any more work than I can go through with perfect 
calmness of spirit. It is true, I travel four or five thou- 
sand miles in a year ; but I generally travel alone in my 
carriage, and, consequently, am as retired ten hours in a 
daj^ as if I was in a wilderness. On other daj^s I never 
spend less than three hours, frequentl}' ten or twelve, in 
the day alone. So there are few persons in the king- 
dom who spend so many hours secluded from all com- 
pany. Yet I find time to visit the sick and the poor ; 
and I must do it, if I believe the Bible, if I beliere 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 241 

these are the marks whereby the Shepherd of Israel will 
know and judge his sheep at the great day. Therefore, 
when there are time and opportunity for it, who can 
doubt but this is a matter of absolute duty ? When I 
was at Oxford, and lived almost like a hermit, I saw not 
how any busy man could be saved. I scarce thought it 
possible for a man to retain the Christian spirit amidst 
the noise and bustle of the world. God taucrht me bet- 
ter by my own experience. I had ten times more busi- 
ness in America (that is, at intervals,) than ever I had 
in my life ; but it was no hindrance to silence of spirit." 

God in his providence raised up to help Wesley men 
just suited to such work as he had to do. When the 
health of Fletcher failed, Wesley met with Thomas Coke. 
Hearing that Wesley was to preach at a certain place, 
Coke rode twenty miles to see him. They talked much 
about the work of God, and " a union then began," says 
Wesley, "which I trust shall never end." Coke, in the 
conversation, expressed a doubt of the propriety of con- 
fining himself to one congregation. Wesley clasped his 
hands and said : " Brother, go out, go out, and preach 
the gospel to all the world !" After this the course of 
Coke was determined, and he became one of the most 
zealous preachers of Methodism and the father of Me- 
thodist Missions. 

In the prisons of England, among the wretched crimi 
nals and poor debtors, Wesley delighted to work. For 
his help in London God raised up a man whose labors 
are worthy of a record with the Christian heroes of any 
age. " Is it not advisable for us to visit all the jails we 
can ?" said the Conference of 1778. The answer was, 
"By all means. There cannot be a greater charity." 
The man found specially fitted for this work was Silas 
Told. He spent his eaily life as a sailor. When about 



242 ' A HISTORY OF ]^IETHODISM 

thirty years old he was mtroduced to the Methodists and 
soon became a zealous member. Wesley made him 
master of the Foundery School. He began to visit the 
London prisons, and soon extended his work, until there 
was not a prison in London, and hardly a work-house 
within twelve miles of it, where Silas was not a frequent 
and welcome visitor. For above thirty years he gave 
himself to this work. Criminals of every grade looked 
upon him as a friend sent them from heaven. He met 
with much opposition at first ; but he worked on until 
the rude turnkeys and heartless hangmen listened to his 
exhortations with sobs and tears. Told went on with 
his work until nearl}^ three-score and ten. He died m 
peace, and Wesley said of him : " I buried all that was 
mortal of honest Silas Told. For many j^ears he at- 
tended the malefactors in Newgate without fee or reward, 
and I suppose no man for this hundred j^ears has been 
so successful in that melanchol}^ office. God had given 
him peculiar talents for it, and he had amazing success 
therein. The greatest part of those whom he attended 
died in peace, and man}^ of them in the triumphs of 
faith." In the same year that this humble Christian 
worker died, in Paris the great infldel, Yoltaire, died at 
the age of eighty-five. His death was such as we might 
look for from a hardened sinner. Wesley heard that the 
works of Voltaire were to be published in England by 
one of the chaplains of George III ; and, in his godly 
indignation, he wrote a letter, which is not in his works, 
but which Mr. T3'erman gives in his life. As it shows the 
true source of the incident which occurred at the bedside 
of the dying infidel, we here give it entire : 

"January 4, 1779. 
"Sir, — In September last, a gentleman near Bristol 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 243. 

showed me a letter which he had received from the Rev. 
Mr. Fletcher, at Paris. I desired him to give a tran- 
script of one part of it, which he immediately did. It 
was as follows : 

" ' Mr. Voltaire sent for Monsieur Tronclils, first phy- 
sician to the Duke of Orleans (one of his converts to in- 
fidelity), and said to him : ' Sir, I desire you to save my 
life. I will give you half my fortune if you will lengthen 
out my days only six months. If not, I shall go to the 
devil and carry you with me.' 

"This is the man to whom a crowned head pays such 
a violent compliment ! Nay, this is the man whose 
works are now publishing by a divine of our own Church ; 
yea, a chaplain to his majesty. Pity but the king should 
know it. If the publisher of that poor wretch's works 
writes a panegyric upon him or them, I shall think it 
my duty to show the real value of those writings. . 
" I am, sir, your humble servant, 

" J. Wesley." 

So died the poor, wretched man that defied and scoffed 
at the name of Jesus, and closed his letters, it is said, 
to his infidel friends, whom he urged to oppose his reli- 
gion, with the words, " Crush the wretch !" 



244 A HISTORY OF IMETHODISM 



CHAPTEK XXII. 

We do not wish to claim more for Wesley and Me- 
thodism than they merit, but we think it but fair and just 
to give them fall credit for all the work done for the en- 
lightenment and salvation of the world. Some of our 
readers may not be aware that the first Bible Society 
formed in England, and so far as we knoV, in the world, 
was the work of Methodists. In 1779 Geo. Cussons and 
John Davis, two Methodists, after leaving the leader's 
meeting, fell into a conversation on the subject of circu- 
lating the Holy Scriptures, and determined to raise a 
fund for supplying soldiers with pocket-Bibles. A few 
friends joined them, and a Society was formed for this 
purpose. They held monthly meetings. The first par- 
cel of Bibles was sent out from Wesley's West Street 
chapel, and the first sermon in behalf of the Society was 
preached in the same chapel by Rev. Mr. Collins, from 
the words : " And the Philistines were afraid ; for they 
said, God is come into the camp. And they said. Woe 
unto us ! for there hath not been such a thing hereto- 
fore." "Thus arose," saj^s Tyerman, "the Naval and 
Military Bible Society — twenty-five years before the for- 
mation of the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1804 — 
a society still in active operation, and, we believe, the 
oldest association for the circulation of the word of God 
that now exists." 

In the travels of Wesley, in old age, over the fields 
where he had formerly met furious mobs, he now found 
large congregations of quiet and attentive hearers. The 
following anecdote will show that our founder always 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 245 

kept before him the fact that the mission of the gospel 
is specially to the poor : At Blackburn, Wesley's host 
took him to see a new chapel nearly completed. On 
looking at it, Wesley said : " Mr. Banning, I have a 
favor to ask. Let there be no pews in the body of this 
chapel except for the leading singers. Be sure to make 
accommodation for the poor. They are God's building 
materials in the erecting of His church. The rich make 
good scaffolding, but bad materials.^' Have we not lost 
sight of this sound advice of Wesley in the building of 
costly churches from which the poor are almost wholly 
excluded ? 

To hear the eloquent old man thousands gathered 
by the most convenient points as he passed along, and 
by their earnest attention showed the change that had 
been wrought in almost every part of England. Some- 
times a rude or drunken man made disturbance, but not 
often. Wesle}^ describes a scene in which a wife's 
power is exemplified : "Our friends at Newark were di- 
vided as to the place where I should preach. At length 
they found a convenient place, covered on three sides, 
and on the fourth open to the street. It contained two 
or three thousand people well, who appeared to hear as 
for life. Only one big man, exceeding drunk, was very 
noisy and turbulent, till his wife seized him by the col- 
lar, gave him two or three hearty boxes on the ear, and 
dragged him away like a calf. But at length he got out 
of her hands, crept in among the people, and stood as 
quiet as a lamb." 

This incessant travelling and preaching was done by 
a man nigh eighty years old. " I can hardly think,' 
says Wesley June 28, 1780, "I am entered this day into 
the sevent^^-eighth year of my age. By the blessing of 
God I am just the same as when I entered the twenty- 



246 A inSTORY OF IMETHODISM 

eighth. This has God wrought chiefly by my constant 
exercise, my rising early, and preaching morning and 
evening." Any place where there were souls to hear the 
Word was good enough for him to preach in. "They 
chose for me," he says, " a lamentable place, full of dirt 
and dust, but without the least shelter from the scorch- 
ing sun. This few could bear ; so we had only a small 
company of as stupid people as I ever saw." But 
the heroic old man bore it, and delivered his mes- 
sage. 

At the Conference Wesley sought to impress his 
preachers with the greatness of their work. Early 
preaching he insisted on. If a preacher could get 
twenty hearers at 5 o'clock in the morning, he was to 
preach ; if less, he was to sing and pray. " Observe," 
he said to them, " it is not your business to preach so 
manj times, and to take care of this or that societ}^ ; 
but to save all the souls you can, to bring as many sin- 
ners as you possibly can to repentance, and, with all 
your power, to build them up in the Lord. And re- 
member ! a Methodist preacher is to mind ever}^ point, 
great and small, in the Methodist Discipline ! There- 
fore, 3^ou will need all the sense you have, and to have 
all your wits about you." The duty of fasting Wesley 
insisted upon, and said that much spiritual feebleness 
and faintness grew out of the neglect of it. " Let you 
and I," he says, "every Friday avow this dut}'' through- 
out the nation by touching no tea, coffee, or chocolate, 
in the morning ; but if we want it, half-a-pint of milk or 
water gruel. Let us dine on potatoes, and (if we need 
it) eat three or four ounces of flesh in the evening. At 
other times, let us eat no flesh-suppers. These exceed- 
ing tend to breed nervous disorders." Wesley was a 
pattern of neatness, and enjoined upon his people to be 



ron OUR YOUNG PEorLE. 247 

neat and clean. Some complained to him that some of 
the preachers' wives did not keep the parsonages clean. 
He said : " Let none that has spoiled one ever live in 
another. But what a shame is this ! A preacher's wife 
should be a pattern of cleanliness, in person, clothes, 
and habitation. Let nothing slatternly be seen about 
her ; no rags, no dirt, no litter. And she should be a 
pattern of industry ; always at work for herself, her 
husband, or the poor." 

Wesley's last ten years on earth were as full of labor 
as if he had only been in middle life. He watched over 
his societies with the care of a father, and corrected 
every error among the Methodists as soon as he saw it. 
"I put a stop," he says, "to a bad custom which I found 
creeping in at Warrenton. A few men, who had fine 
voices, sang a psalm which no one knew, in a tune fit for 
an opera, wherein three, four or five persons sung differ- 
ent words at the same time ! What an insult upon com- 
mon sense ! What a burlesque upon public worship ! 
No custom can excuse such a mixture of profaneness 
and absurdit}^" 

We commend this passage to the notice of those who 
are eng-a^ed in the work of chang-inoj the strand old tunes 
of Methodism into the ear-stunning operas of the pres- 
ent day. 

Wesley loved to go among the hearty Irish Method- 
ists, and planned an extensive tour in that country, but 
was hindered as he believed providentially. He took a 
ship at Liverpool and was hardly out of the harbor when 
a violent storm came on. In an hour he was affected 
most strangely. For two days he could swallow nothing 
solid that was larger than a pea, and was braised and 
sore from head to foot. The storm grew worse. The 
water in the hold was three feet deep. The ship would 



248 A HTSTOKY OF ItlETIIODISM 

not obey the helm, and was driving on a lee-shore. Mr. 
Wesley says : 

"I called our brethren, Floyd, Snowden, and Brad- 
ford, to prayers ; and we found free access to the throne 
of grace. Soon after, we got, I know not how, into Ho- 
lyhead harbour, after being sufficiently buifeted by the 
winds and waves for two days and two nights. The 
more I considered, the more I was convinced, it was not 
the will of God I should go to Ireland at this time. So 
we went into the stage-coach without delay and the next 
evening came to Chester." 

One of the most successful means employed by "Wes- 
ley for the spreading of religious knowledge was, as we 
have already seen, by the circulation of books, printed 
sermons, and short tracts. 

The Religious Tract Society was established in 1799, 
but seventeen years before this Wesley founded such a 
Society. In 1783 he published "A Plan of the Society 
Instituted in January 1782 to Distribute Religious Tracts 
Among the Poor." 

He had only three rules — 

" 1. Every member must subscribe half a guinea, or 
more, annually. 

" 2. A proportionable quota of tracts shall be deliver- 
ed yearly to each subscriber, according to his subscrip- 
tion, and as nearly as possible at prime cost, acid car- 
riage paid. 

"3. Every subscriber shall have aright to choose his 
own tracts, if he please ; otherwise, he will receive a 
proportionable variety of the whole." 

Of this work Wesley said : 

"I cannot but earnestly recommend this to all those 
who desire to see true scriptural Christianity spread 
throughout these nations. Men wholly unawakened will 



FOR Oim YOUNG PEOPLE. 249 

not take pains to read the Bible. They have no relish 
for it. But a small tract may engage their attention for 
half an hour ;- and may, by the blessing of God, prepare 
them for going forward." 

Tract distribution has been one of the great works of 
Methodism from that time to the present. 

In 1867 the English Book-Room in City Road, London, 
sold more than a million and a half of tracts issued from 
its own presses. 

When Wesley entered his eightieth year he wrote : ^ 

"Blessed be God! my time is not labor and sorrow. 
I find no more pain or bodily infirmity than at five-and- 
twenty. This I still impute : 1. To the power of God, 
fitting me for what he calls me to. 2. To mj^ travelling 
four or five thousand miles a year. 3. To my sleeping 
night or day, whenever I want it. 4. To my rising at a 
set hour. 5. To my constant preaching, particularly in 
the mornmg." And adds : "I often preach abroad (that 
is, in the open air.) in winter as well as summer." 

At this great age he crossed over to Holland and 
spent seventeen days in that country. While there he 
entered his eighty -first year and wrote : 

'• By the mercy of God my e^^es are not waxed dim, 
and what little strength of body or mind I had thirt}'' 
years since, just the same I have now. God grant I 
may never live to be useless ! Rather may I 

' My body with my charge lay down 
And cease at once to work and live !' " 

When he came over to Enerland and met his Confer- 
ence he could well exclaim, "What hath God wrought!" 

In England there were 45,955 Methodists, in America 
15,740, in Antigua 2,000, besides those in Nova Sootia, 
that had been gathered in by William Black. 

17 



250 A niSTOHY OF TMETHODISM 

Though Wesley speaks of his good health at his great 
age, yet he had occasionally alarming spells of sick- 
ness. In 1783 he lay for eighteen days between life and 
death. 

In his illness he said to his friend and nurse, Joseph 
Bradford : 

"I have been reflecting on my past life. I have been 
wandering up and down between fifty and sixty j^ears, 
endeavoring, in my poor way, to do a little good to my 
fellow-creatures ; and, now, it is probable that there are 
but a few steps between me and death ; and what have 
I to trust to for salvation? I can see nothins: which I 
have done or suffered that will bear looking at. I have 
no other plea than this : 

' I the chief of sinners am, 
But Jesus died for me.' " 

The work of Wesley at his age has no parallel. "Here 
we have," says Mr. Tyerman, "not a man of Herculean 
frame, big, brawny, and heav}^ fed on the daintiest diet, 
and stimulated with the costliest wines, but a man small 
in stature, his weight eight stones and ten pounds, (ex- 
actly the same as it was fourteen years before,) his age 
eighty, without indulgences, feeding, for eight months in 
every year, chiefly at the tables of the poor, sleeping on 
all sorts of beds and in all sorts of rooms, without a wife, 
without a child, really without a home ; aud yet a man 
always cheerful, always happy, always hard at work, fly- 
ing with all the sprightliness of youth, throughout the 
three kingdoms, preaching twice every day, indoors and 
out of doors, in churches, chapels, cottages, and sheds, 
and everywhere superintending the complex and grow- 
ing interests of the numerous societies which had sprung 
into buoyant being through the labors of himself and 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 251 

his godly helpers. The man was a marvel, such as the 
world sees only now and then." 

At Stockton, on one of hispreachmg tours, he *' found 
an uncommon work of God among the children," up- 
wards of sixty of whom, from six to fourteen, were un- 
der serious impressions and desirous to save their souls. 
Here a touching scene was witnessed : " As soon as I 
came down from the desk," he says, "I was enclosed by 
a body of children ; all of whom sunk down upon their 
knees : so I kneeled down myself and began praying for 
them." Beautiful picture this, well worth painting. No 
wonder that be adds ; "Abundance of people ran back 
into the house. The fire kindled, and ran from heart to 
heart, till few, if any, were unaffected. Is not this a 
new thing in the earth? God begins his work in chil- 
dren. Thus it has been also in Cornwall, Manchester, 
and Epsworth. Thus the flame spreads to those of riper 
years ; till at length they all know him, and praise him, 
from the least unto the greatest." 

About this time we meet with Wesley's first notice of 
Sunday Schools. He preached twice at Bingley church, 
and sa3's : 

"Before service I stepped into the Sunda}'- School, 
which contains two hundred and forty children, taught 
every Sunday by several masters, and superintended by 
the curate. So many children iu one parish are restrain- 
ed from open sin, and taught a little good manners, at 
least, as well as to read the Bible. I find these schools 
springing up wherever I go. Perhaps God may have a 
deeper end therein than men are aware of. Who knows 
but some of these schools may become nurseries for 
Christians?" 

Wesley gave to these schools their happiest nam( 
"Nurseries for Christians." 



252 A HISTORY OF JsIETHODISM 

To Robt. Raikes belongs the credit of instituting Sun- 
day Schools in Gloucester, but the idea was given him 
by a Methodist lady. In the Sunday Schools which were 
established in England the exercises began at 1 o'clock 
in the afternoon, and the children were taught reading, 
writing, and religion. At 3 they were taken to church, 
and after service were led back to school, where a part 
of some good book was read to them, and a psalm was 
sung and the school closed with prayer. The teachers 
were usually poor men, and were paid two shillings a 
Sunday for their services. Wesley and his preachers at 
once caught the idea of Sunday Schools, and they be- 
came one of the powers of Methodism. 

A few years after this Wesley met at Bolton above 
five hundred Sunday School children of his societies, 
and preached to them a sermon in which he used no 
word of more than two syllables. This Bolton Sunday 
School became the most famous one in England, and at 
one time numbered 2,000 scholars. 

In 1784 Wesley signed his famous "Deed of Declara- 
tion," as it is called. This was a legal instrument by 
which one hundred of his preachers, selected by himself, 
were constituted "The Conference of the People Called 
Methodists." The successors of these preachers are to- 
day the source of all authority in the Weslej^an Church, 
and carry on the great work of Methodist evangelization 
in England and in many other parts of the world. 

At the Conference of 1786 Wesley gave his preachers 
advice as to their manner in the pulpit. They were to 
re-establish morning preaching in all large towns, at 
least, and to restore the bands and the select societies. 
They were always to conclude the services in about an 
hour. They were never to scream, nor to lean upon nor 
beat the Bible. Wherever they preached, to meet the 



FOR OUR YOTJNG PEOPLE. 253 

classes. Not to go home at night except in cases of the 
utmost necessity. Never to preach funeral sermons but 
for eminently holy persons, to preach none for hire, and 
to beware of panegyric, particularly in London ; to hold 
more lovefeasts ; to introduce no new tunes ; to see that 
none sing too slow, and that the women sing their parts ; 
and to exhort all to sing ; and all to stand at singing, as 
well as to kneel at praj'-ers. To let none repeat the last 
line, unless the preacher does. 

This advice is from a wise man, and may well be 
thought on even now by Methodist preachers. 



254 A HISTORY OF METHODISM 



CHAPTER XXIIT. 

The work of Methodism in Nova Scotia, Newfound- 
land, and Antigua, had grown to such an extent that 
there were nine preachers and over two thousand mem- 
bers in society. These were properly Methodist Mis- 
sions ; and now, under the leadership of Dr. Coke, the 
Mission work of Methodism began in earnest. In 1784 
Dr. Coke sent to Mr. Fletcher the draft of a " Society 
for the Establishment of Missions Among the Heathen." 
The object was to send out preachers, and " to print the 
Scriptures for the use of any heathen country." This is 
said to be the first missionary report ever published, and 
places the Methodist Church ahead of all others in the 
work of modern Missions. 

When Wesley was eighty -three he made another visit 
to Holland, and spent several weeks in preaching and 
visiting in that country. On returning to England he 
began to write the life of the saintly Fletcher. To this 
work, he says, " I give all the time I can spare till No- 
vember from five in the morning till eight at night. 
These are m}^ studying hours. I cannot write longer in 
a day without hurting my eyes." Think of this ! A 
man at eighty-three studying and writing fifteen hours a 
day! But he was in health. "Ever since that good 
fever," he says, "which I had in the north of Ireland, I 
have had, as it were, a new constitution. All my pains 
and aches have forsaken me, and I am a stranger to 
weariness of any kind. This is the Lord's doing, and it 
may well be .marvellous in all our eyes." 

The faith of Wesley was wonderful. In the midst of 



FOE, Om YOUNG PEOrLE. AoJ 

mobs, he was calm ; in the midst of storms, he cast his 
soul and all his interests upon God. Adam Clarke re- 
lates an incident in point : Wesle3^ Coke, Bradford, and 
Clarke, were on a vessel in the English channel bound 
for Cornwall. The wind was fair at first, but soon came 
out dead ahead. Wesley was quietly reading in the ca- 
bin, but hearing the noise and bustle on deck in putting 
the vessel about, he asked what it meant. He was told 
that the wind was ahead. He quietly said, "Then let 
us go to prayer." They all prayed, Wesley last. He 
began : "Almighty and everlasting God, thou hast sway 
everywhere, and all things serve the purposes of thy 
will : Thou boldest the winds in thy hands, and sittest 
ujpon the waterfloods, and reignest a king forever : Com- 
mand these winds and these waves that they obey thee ; 
and take us speedily and safely to the haven whither we 
would be !" The power of his petition was felt by all : 
He rose from his knees, made no remark, and resumed 
k«:s reading. Clarke went on deck, and, to his surprise, 
found the vessel standing her right course, with a steady 
breeze, which brought them safe to Cornwall. 

Wesley, as he neared the close of his life, felt and 
showed a deep concern for the perpetuation of Method- 
ism in its purity. On this subject he says : 

"I am not afraid that the people called Methodists 
should ever cease to exist in Europe or America. But 
I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, 
having the form of religion without the power. And this 
undoubtedly will be the case unless they hold fast both 
the doctrine, spirit, and discipline, with which they first 
set out." 

In 1788 Charles Wesley died. His brother was away 
on his northern tour, and did not hear of the sad event 
until it was too late to reach London in time for the 



256 A HISTOKY OF METHODISM 

funeral. At Bolton, two weeks after, as he gave out 
Charles' beautiful hymn, " Come, O Thou Traveller Un- 
known," when he came to the lines — 

" My company before is gone, 
And I am left alone with thee," 

overcome by his emotions, the venerable man burst into 
tears and sat down in the pulpit covering his face with 
his hands. All the people wept with him, for they knew 
the cause of his grief. 

Perhaps few of our readers know how Wesley was in- 
duced to abandon the use of a manuscript and to preach 
extempore. "When he was eighty -live he preached in All- 
hallows church, London. Wesley said to his attendant 
while putting on his gown : 

" Sir, it is above fifty years since I first preached in 
this church ; I remember it from a particular circum- 
stance. I came without a sermon ; and, going up the 
pulpit stairs, I hesitated, and returned into the vestry, 
under much mental confusion and agitation. A woman, 
who stood by, noticed my concern, and said, 'Pray, sir, 
what is the matter?' I replied, 'I have not brought a 
sermon with me.' Putting her hand on my shoulder, she 
said, 'Is that all? Cannot you trust God for a sermon?* 
This question had such an effect upon me that I ascend- 
ed the pulpit, preached extempore, with great freedom 
to myself and acceptance to the people ; and have never 
since taken a written sermon into the pulpit." "A word 
spoken in due season, how good is it !" 

Wesley's remarkable life was now nearing its end. In 
1790 he wrote : 

"January 1. — I am now an old man, decayed from 
head to foot : My eyes are dim ; my right hand shakes 
much ; my mouth is hot and dry every morning ; I have 



roil OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 257 

a lingering fever almost every day ,; my motion is weak 
and slow. However, blessed be God, I do not slack my 
labour ; I can preach and write still." 

Henr}'- Moore says : 

" Being in the house with him when he wrote thus, I 
was greatly surprised. I knew it must be as he said ; 
but I could not imagine his weakness was so great. He 
still rose at his usual hour, 4 o'clock, and went through 
the many duties of the day, not indeed with the same 
apparent vigour, but without complaint, and with a de- 
gree of resolution that was astonishing." 

But the last year of his life was full of work. He 
still travelled and preached and wrote for the good of 
souls. Among his last warnings to his people, that in 
reference to the laying up of treasure on earth is worthy 
to be repeated to all generations of Christians : 

"After having served you between sixty and seventy 
years, with dim e3^es, shaking hands, and tottering feet, 
I give 3^ou one more advice before I sink into the dust. 
Mark those words of St. Paul, Those that desire, or en- 
deavour, to be rich, that moment fall into temptation ; yea, 
a deep gulf of temptation, out of which nothing less than 
Almight}'' power can deliver them. Permit me to come 
a little closer still : Perhaps I may not trouble yo\i any 
more on this head. I am pained for you that are rich in 
this world. Do you give all you can? You who receive 
£500 a year, and spend only £200, do jou. give £300 
back to God? If not, you certainly rob God of that 
£300. ' Na}^ may I not do what I will with my own V 
Here lies the ground of your mistake. It is not your 
own. It cannot be, unless you are Lord of heaven and 
earth. 'However, I must provide for my children.' Cer- 
tainly. But how ? By making them rich ? When you 
will probably make them heathens, as some of you have 



258 A niSTOKY OF METHODIS:^! 

done alread}^ Leave them enough to live on, not in 
idleness and luxury, but by honest industr}-. And if 
you have not children, upon what scriptural or rational 
principle can you leave a groat behind you, more than 
will bury you? I pray consider : What are 3'ou the bet- 
ter for what you leave behind you? What does it sig- 
nify, whether you leave behind ^^ou ten thousand pounds 
or ten thousand shoes and boots? Oh, leave nothing be- 
hind you ! Send all you have before jovl into a better 
world ! Lend it, lend it all unto the Lord, and it shall 
be paid j^ou again ! Is there any danger that his truth 
should fail? It is fixed as the pillars of heaven. Haste, 
haste, m}^ brethren, haste ! lest you be called away 
before you have settled what you have on this secu- 
rity r 

He preached his last sermon on Wednesday, February 
23, 1791, in the dining-room of a gentleman at Leather- 
head, eighteen miles from London, from the words, " Seek 
ye the Lord while he may be found ; call ye upon him 
while he is near." 

On Friday he returned to London, and on reaching his 
house in City Road went up stairs and requested to be 
left alone for half an hour. At the end of this time Jo- 
seph Bradford went to his room and found him so sick 
that he sent at once for Dr. Whitehead. When the Dr. 
came in, Wesley said to him, "Dr., they arc more afraid 
than hurt." The next day was passed in drowsiness and 
sleep. On Sunday he got up, looked cheerful, sat in his 
chair, and repeated the following lines from one of his 
brothers hymns : 

" Till glad I lay this body down, 
Thy servant, Lord, attend ! 
And oh ! my life of mercy crown 
With a triumphant end !" 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 259 

Pausing a few moments, he said solemnly, "Our friend 
Lazarus sleepeth." His niece, Miss Wesley, and Miss 
Ritchie, were in the room engaged in prayer. " When 
at Bristol," he said, referring to a former illness, " my 
words were — 

'I the chief of sinners am, 
But Jesus died for me I"' 

Miss Ritchie said, "Is this your language now?" 
"Yes," he replied, "Christ is all! He is all!" His 
mind then began to wander, but in his mutterings it was 
found that he was either preaching or leading class. 
The next day he was worse, and Dr. Whitehead desired 
to have other phj^sicians called in. Wesley replied : 
"Dr. Whitehead knows my constitution better than any 
one. I am quite satisfied, and will have no other." 

Most of the day he slept, speaking but little. When 
awake his attendants heard him say, in a low, distinct 
voice, " There is no way into the holiest but by the 
blood of Jesus." He referred to the text, "Ye know 
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that, though he was 
rich," &c., and said with deep solemnity, "That is the 
foundation, the only foundation, there is no other." 

He was now fast sinking into the shades of death. 
On Tuesday, March 1, after passing a restless night, he 
was asked if he felt pain. He said, "No," and then be- 
gan to sing — 

" All glory to God in the sky, 

And peace upon earth be restored ! 
O Jesus, exalted on high, 

Appear our omnipotent Lord. 
Who, meanly in Bethlehem born, 

Didst stoop to redeem a lost race, 
Once more to Thy people return. 

And reign in Thy kingdom of grace. 



260 A inSTOEY OF IMETHODISM 

" Oh, wouldst Thou again be made known, 

Aajain in the Spirit descend ; 
And set up in each of Thy own 

A kingdom that never shall ^nd I 
Thou only art able to bless, 

And make the glad nations obey, 
And bid the dire enmity cease, 

And bow the whole world to Thy sway." 

After singing be said, " I want to write." Paper was 
brought and a pen placed in his fingers, but his writing 
was done. "I cannot," he said. "Let me write for 
you," said Miss Eitchie. *' Tell me what you wish to 
sa}^" "Nothing," he replied, "but that God is with 
us." " I will get up," he said ; and while his friends 
were dressing him he began to sing — 

" I'll praise my Maker while I've breath ; 
And when my voice is lost in death, 

Praise shall employ my nobler powers : 
My days of praise shall ne'er be past, 
While life, and thought, and being last, 

Or immortality endures. 

" Happy the man whose hopes rely 
On Israel's God ; He made the sky, 

And earth, and seas, with all their train ; 
His truth forever stands secure. 
He saves the oppressed. He feeds the poor, 

And none shall find His promise vain." 

Sitting in his chair, he said in a weak voice, "Lord, 
thou givest strength to those that can speak, and to 
those that cannot. Speak, Lord, to all our hearts, and 
let them know that thou loosest tongues." 

Again he began to sing — 

" To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
Who sweetly all agree." 

His voice failed, and gasping for breath he said, — 



FOR Oini YOUNG PEOPLE. 261 

*' Now we have done. Let us all go." He was placed 
in bed, and soon fell into a quiet sleep. When he awoke 
he looked at the weeping company around him and said, 
" Pray and praise." They did so. He asked Mr. Brad- 
ford about his keys, and said, "I would have all things 
ready for my executors. Let me be buried in nothing 
but what is woollen, and let my corpse be carried in my 
coffin into the chapel ;" and added, as if he had now 
closed all earthly affairs, "Pray and praise." 

John Broadbent led the weeping company in prayer, 
and asked God to bless still the system of doctrine and 
discipline which Wesley had been the means of estab- 
lishing. To this petition especially the dying saint gave 
a hearty response. 

On rising from prayer each person drew near the bed. 
Wesley took each by the hand and said : " Farewell ! 
Farewell !" He lay still for a time, and then tried to 
speak. His friends bent down to hear, and they made 
out that he wished his sermon on "The Love of God to 
Fallen Man," based on the text, "Not as tlie offence, so 
also is the free gift," to be " scattered abroad and given 
to everybody." Wesley looked at them, and seeing that 
they were hardly able to understand him, gathered up 
his strength and " exclaimed in a tone well-nigh super- 
natural," " The best of all is, God is with us !" Then, 
after a pause, he lifted his arm as if in triumph, and 
again exclaimed, " The best of all is, God is with us !" 
He sank back exhausted. Some one moistened his lips 
with water. "It will not do," he said, "we must take 
the consequences. Never mind the poor carcase." 

Two of his friends, James Rogers and Thos. Rankin, 
stood near the bed, but the dim eyes could not distin- 
guish them. " Who are these ?" he asked. Mr. Rogers 
said : " Sir, we are come to rejoice with you — going to 



$62 A HISTOPwY OF METHODISM 

receive your reward." "It is the Lord's doing," said 
Wesley, "and it is marvellous in our eyes." 

His brother's widow now came into the room, and on 
being told she was present he thanked her and tried to 
kiss her, saying : " He giveth his servants rest." She 
then wet his lips, and he repeated his usual thanks after 
meals : "We thank thee, Lord, for these and all thy 
mercies. Bless the Church and king, and grant us truth 
and peace through Jesus Christ, our Lord, forever and 
ever !" Then, after a little pause, he said : "The clouds 
drop fatness ;" and after another, " The Lord of Hosts 
is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge ! Pra}' and 
praise !" His friends again bowed in prayer. During 
the night he repeated many times: "I'll praise, I'll 
praise." But this was all he could say. About ten 
o'clock next morning, Wednesday, March 2nd, Joseph 
Bradford led the company in pra3'er. "Farewell !" cried 
Wesley; and as Bradford was saying, "Lift up your 
heads, O ye gates ; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting 
doors ; and the heir of glory shall come in," his spirit 
passed through into the eternal city. 

Standing around his silent form, his friends united in 
singing — 

" Waiting to receive thy spirit, 
Lo ! the Saviour stands above ; 
Shows the purchase of his merit, 
Reaches out the crown of love." 

Wesley was buried in the small burjdng-ground behind 
City Road chapel on the 9th of March. " Such was the 
excitement," says Mr. Tyerman, " created by his death 
that within twelve hours only before the funeral took 
place it was determined, in order to prevent the assem- 
bling of an inconvenient crowd, that the funeral solemni- 
ties should be performed at the early hour of five A. M. 



FOR OUR YOUXG PEOPLE. 263 

The notice to his friends was short ; but hundreds at- 
tended ; and to each one was given a biscuit, in an en- 
velope, engraven with a beautifully executed portrait of 
the departed, dressed in canonicals, surmounted by a 
halo and a crown." 

Thus died John Wesle^^ one of the most remarkable 
men that ever lived. 

For more than sixty j^ears he worked in the vineyard 
of the Lord, and the results are world-wide. 

In person he was small, but active and strong. His 
face was bright and pleasing, and even to extreme age 
his complexion retained its freshness. As a scholar, he 
was surpassed b}^ few ; as a writer, he has given the 
world an illustration of what may be done b}^ redeeming 
time. His st3de is a model for all who desire to write 
so as to be readih' understood. 'No reader can fail to 
see what John Wesley means, no matter what subject he 
writes upon. "I never think"he saj^s'-'of my style at all, 
but just set down the words that come first. Only when 
I transcribe anything for the press, then I think it my 
duty to see that every phrase be dear, pure, proper, and 
easy,'* 

As a preacher, he is a study. He was calm, natural, 
earnest, and clear. He had not the oratory of White- 
field, and yet under Wesley more people were stricken 
down than under Whitetield. It has been well said that 
Wesley's preaching "had the accuracy of a scholar, the 
authority of an ambassador, the unction of a saint, the 
power of God." It was often searching and terribly se- 
vere. He had preached once to a very fashionable au- 
dience from the words, "Ye serpents, je generation of 
vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" One 
of the otfended hearers said to him after the sermon, — 
" Sir, such a sermon would have been suitable in Billiuo;s- 



264 A HTSTOIIY OF METHODISM 

gate, but it was highly improper here." To whom Wes- 
ley quietl}^ answered, "If I had been in Billingsgate my 
text should have been, 'Behold the Lamb of God, which 
taketh away the sin of the world.' " He was faithful to 
all classes in preaching the Word. 

In social life he was cheerful, and enlivened company 
b}^ his abundant and appropriate anecdotes. He was 
equally at home in the mansions of the rich and the ho- 
vels of the poor. For young people he had a peculiar 
affection. "I reverence the j^oung," he said, "because 
they may be useful after I am dead." 

His hands were always full of work, j^et he never hur- 
ried. Once when kept waiting over-time for his carriage 
he said, "I have lost ten minutes forever." A friend 
said, "You have no need to be in a hurry." "Hurry," 
he answered, "I have no time to be in a hurry." 

Wesley is said to have been naturally irritable, but he 
seemed to prefer an irritable man to one dull and slow. 
The following anecdote will illustrate this. He said 
once to one of his preachers : 

"Tommy, touch that!" pointing to a dock. The itin- 
erant did so. "Do you feel anything?" asked Wesley. 
"No," replied his friend. "Touch that!" continued 
Wesley, pointing to a nettle. His companion obe^^ed, 
and, in consequence, was stung. "Now, Tommy," re- 
marked Wesley, " some men are like docks ; say what 
you will to them, they are stupid and insensible. Others 
are like nettles ; touch them, and they resent it. Tom- 
my, 3'^ou are a nettle ; and, for my part, I would rather 
have to do with a nettle than a dock." 

Wesley was as close a student of men as he was of 
books. He was always learning. 

"Pray, sir, let us go," said one of his friends, whilst 
two women, near Billingsgate market, were quarrelling 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 265 

most furiously, and using language far more forceful 
than pious: "Pray, sir, let us go; I cannot stand it.' 
"Stay, Sammy," replied Wesley, as he looked at the vi- 
ragoes, who were evidently inspired, though not from 
heaven. "Stay, Sammy," answered the man who had 
eyes for everything ; " stay, and learn how to preach !" 

An eminent writer has said of him : 

"A greater poet m&j rise than Homer or Milton ; a 
greater theologian than Calvin; a greater philosopher 
than Bacon ; a greater dramatist than any of ancient or 
modern fame ; but a more distinguished revivalist of the 
churches than John Wesle}^, never." 

The eminent scholar and historian, Macaulay, has re- 
corded his estimate of Wesley in the following words : 

"He was a man whose eloquence and logical acute- 
ness might have rendered him eminent in literature ; 
whose genius for government was not inferior to that of 
Richelieu ; and who devoted all his powers, in defiance 
of obloquy and derision, to what he sincerely considered 
the highest good of his species." 

But Wesley needs no eulogy from men. The fruit 
of his labors now growing vigorously in every part of 
the world is his highest meed of praise. 

18 



266 insTORY OF Methodism] 



CHAPTER XXIY. 

Having traced the path of Methodism as fully as our 
limits will allow from its rise to the death of Wesley, it 
only remains for us to close this little book by taking a 
rapid survey of the work it has done in the world. 

It has been a little more than eightj^-four years since 
Wesley's death, and so well did be organize Methodism 
for its peculiar work, and so thoroughly did he infuse 
into it the great principles that underlie all success in 
Christian labor, that to-day the number of believers who 
bear the Methodist name is counted by millions. 

By the English and American Methodists the gospel 
has been carried into nearly every part of the heathen 
world. In India, China, Japan, Australia, and in the 
islands of the seas, faithful missionaries have planted 
the standard of the Cross and gathered around it many 
thousands of redeemed souls. 

It is now one hundred and thirty-one years since Wes- 
ley held his first Conference, consisting of six persons ; 
and from this small band the Wesleyans of England 
have grown to be a powerful Church, with more than 
two thousand travelling preachers, and nearly half a 
million of members. Of this number nearly seventy- 
five thousand members and nearly four hundred preach- 
ers are in the Foreign Missions of that Church. 

The Sunday Schools and day schools of the Wesleyans 
show how fully the work of Wesley has been carried out 
by his sons in the gospel. They have largely over 5,000 
Sunday Schools, with 111,000 officers and teachers, and 



FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 267 

above 700,000 scholars. Of day schools they have 890, 
with 173,700 children under instruction. In addition to 
their day schools the Wesleyans have several institu- 
tions of high grade for young men, and theological 
schools of the best class for candidates for the ministry, 
both at home and in their numerous Mission fields. 

In the Irish Conference there are 185 preachers, over 
11,000 members, 264 Sunday Schools, more than 2,000 
officers and teachers, and above 20,000 scholars. 

The French Wesleyan Conference is Mission work in 
fact, and has been carried on under great difficulties and 
discouragements, but God has greatly blessed the faith- 
ful toilers. There are in France 27 travelling preachers, 
96 local preachers, over 2,000 members, and nearly 3,000 
Sunday School scholars. 

The Australian Wesleyan Methodist Church is now 
a separate organization from the English Wesleyan 
Church. It was made so at the General Conference at 
Melbourne in May, 1875. It has four Annual Confer- 
ences, embracing all the work in that part of the world, 
with the Missions in New Zealand. This Church is go- 
verned by a General Conference which meets once in 
three years, and is composed of one delegate for every 
eight members of an Annual Conference and an equal 
number of lay delegates. There are 362 travelling 
preachers and 67,900 members. Two superior Colleges 
are under the control of this Church. 

Besides these there are other Methodist Churches in 
England which have arisen out of schisms from the Pa- 
rent Church, but they hold to the doctrines and forms of 
Methodism and are doing the work of God with earnest- 
ness and success. These are, the Methodist New Con- 
nection Church, the United Methodist Free Church, the 
Bible Christian Church, and the Wesleyan Reform Union, 



268 HISTORY OF IVIETHODISM 

In these bodies the aggregate number of preachers is 
over 6,600 ; in this the large niimber of over 5,000 local 
preachers in the Methodist Free Churches and the Bible 
Christian Church is included. The membership of all is 
above 135,000, while they have more than 300,000 chil- 
dren in their Sundaj'' Schools. 

In Canada there are now two Methodist bodies. The 
Methodist Church of Canada, formed in 1874 by the 
union of the Wesleyan and New Connection Confer- 
ences of Canada and the Wesleyan Conferences of 
Eastern British America. There are six Annual Con- 
ferences in this Church, each having a President. 

In none of the Methodist Churches we have named is 
there such an officer as a Bishop. Their chief ecclesi- 
astical officer is called President, and in the Wesleyan 
Parent Church, and we believe in all the branches, he 
holds office only for one year. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church of Canada is episco- 
pal in its form of government. It has over 400 minis- 
ters, travelling and local, with 23,000 members, and 
above 17,000 Sunday School scholars. 

The great field in which Methodism has won its no- 
blest victories and achieved its grandest work is the 
United States 

From the organization of the first societ}^ in the city 
of New York in 1766 to the present time just one hun- 
dred and ten years have elapsed. Looking back over 
this period, we may exclaim, "Behold, what hath God 
wrought !" 

' The band of five persons gathered by Philip Embury, a 
local preacher, has, in little more than a hundred years, 
swelled into a Methodist membership, counting all that 
bear the name, of 3,173,229. The first Conference was 
held in Philadelphia in June, 1773, and was composed 




John Street Church, New York 



Face pnge 268, 



FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 269 

of ten preachers, and now there are in the United States 
above 40,000 travellinor and local Methodist preachers. 
In the Sunday Schools under the control of Methodists 
there are nearly 2,500,000 children, which is nearly half 
of the whole number of scholars in the United States, as 
reported at the recent International Convention held in 
the city of Baltimore. 

The value of property held by the Methodists reaches 
nearly $70,000,000, and the number of church-sittings to 
6,528,209. 

In the work of education Methodism has a noble re- 
cord. In this country alone there are more than a hun- 
dred institutions of learning under the control of Metho- 
dist Churches, all of which have been established within 
a period of fifty 3^ears. The circulation of religious lite- 
rature has always been a cherished work of Methodism. 
In the plans of John Wesley it held a chief place. By 
preaching on the itinerant plan and the circulation of 
good books he accomplished the greatest reformation in 
morals and manners that has been seen since the Aposto- 
lic age. His successors in this country and in England 
have faithfully followed in his steps. From the Publish- 
ing Houses established by every branch of Methodism 
publications of all classes, from the smallest tracts to the. 
largest and costliest commentaries, have been sent forth 
by millions of copies. In weekly papers, which is one 
of the best and readiest channels for conveying informa- 
tion to the people, no Churches in the world are ahead 
of the Methodists. The combined circulation of such 
papers in this country is not less than five hundred 
thousand ; and if we allow five readers to each paper we 
have 2,500,000 of our population brought every week 
under the influence of Methodist teaching in one of its 
most potent forms. Besides these, in Review and Maga- 



270 HISTORY OF ^lETIIODISM 

zine literature the Methodist publications are equal to 
those of any other denomination. 

By careful statistical reports it appears that in Eng- 
land the proportion of Methodists is one to every thirty 
of the population, and one-fifth part of all the children 
in England of school-going age receive instrutions in 
Methodist Sunday Schools. In this country the propor- 
tion of Methodists to the whole population is one in 
every fifteen. 

From all this it is apparent that Dr. Abel Stevens 
was right when, in his History of Methodism, he styled 
it " The religious movement of the eighteenth century.'* 
But in fact there is nothing really new in Methodism. 
As a recent eminent writer well says : " Spiritual reli- 
gion is certainly not a gift or experience of modern 
times, and even the peculiar religious phenomena that 
distinguish this body are as old as Christianity ; its full- 
ness of spiritual power, rendering it specifically intense, 
demonstrative, and fruitful of good works, alone distin- 
guish it." May this " fullness of spiritual power" rest 
upon Methodism in all its branches throughout the world 
to the end of time. 

We must not omit to notice, as fully as our plan will 
allow, the Mission work of Methodism. John Wesley 
was a life-long missionary, and he infused into the whole 
body of preachers his own burning zeal for the spread 
of the gospel among all people. " The world is my pa- 
rish," was his noble reply, when urged to confine his la- 
bors to one particular charge. His most resolute help- 
er, Thomas Coke, as we have already stated, conceived 
in 1784 the idea of a " Society for the Establishment of 
Missions Among the Heathen." This noble man, after 
crossing the Atlantic Ocean eighteen times in the prose- 
cution of the work in North America and the West In- 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 271 

dies, came before the British Conference of 1813 with 
a proposition to establish a Mission in the East In- 
dies. 

The Conference hesitated for want of money, and he 
generously offered to advance from his private means 
|16,000 in aid of the enterprise. His offer was accepted, 
and he sailed with six faithful men, who were appointed 
to share his toils and dangers. On the 2nd day of May, 
1814, in the midst of the Indian Ocean, Dr. Coke died 
suddenly at night in his state-room, and, on the follow- 
ing day, after the most solemn services, the body was 
committed to the deep. In gloom and sorrow, but in 
hope and faith, his companions reached their destination 
and began the work which has steadily increased until 
the present day. 

The important work thus started by Doctor Coke 
was carried forward with zeal by his English brethren. 
In this same year the Wesleyan mission-work in South 
Africa was begun ; in Australia, in 1815 ; in Western 
Africa, in 1817; in New Zealand, in 1822; and in the 
Friendly Islands, in 1826. In all of these countries the 
success of the gospel has been wonderful, in the face of 
the greatest obstacles ; and thousands of the wildest and 
most barbarous tribes have been Christianized by the he- 
roic men and women who have braved every danger and 
endured all manner of hardship and suffering to lead 
them to the light of life. 

The English Wesleyans have in their mission-fields 
more than a thousand ordained ministers, above 160,000 
members, and 265,000 children under instruction in their 
mission schools. The annual income of their Missionary 
Society reached the past year the sum of $900,000. The 
smaller Methodist bodies in England are also actively 
engaged in this work; and their reports show above 



272 HISTORY OF SIETHODISM 

twenty thousand members and two hundred and fifty 
missionaries in the various fields. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church has a noble mission 
ary record. Missions have been established with mark 
ed success in Africa, Asia, Europe, Japan, and Mexico 
The total number of American missionaries in the va 
rious foreign fields is 103 ; assistant missionaries, 559 
members, 18,775 ; probationers, 8,282. The Woman's 
Foreign Missionary Society, of that Church, sustains 
twenty-eight missionaries, who labor in Africa, South 
America, China, India, Bulgaria, Japan, and Mexico. 
In the Territories, and among the foreign population of 
this country, very efficient missions are maintained. The 
whole missionary force of that Church is as follows : 
Foreign missionaries and assistants, 690 ; native preach- 
ers, 281 ; in the Territories and among foreign popula- 
tions, 312; domestic missionaries, 2,378. The whole 
membership in foreign missions and among our foreign 
population is set down in the latest returns at 35,803. 
This does not include the very large number of Germans 
in the M. E. Church in this country, of whom a large pro- 
portion is embraced in regular German Conferences. 

The M. E. Church, South, has missions in China, Bra- 
zil, Mexico, among the Indians of the Indian Territory, 
and the Germans chiefly of the States of Louisiana and 
Texas. Before the late war this Church labored with 
pre-eminent success among the blacks of the Southern 
States, and many of her ablest ministers toiled for years 
among the slaves on the vast cotton and rice plantations ; 
but, crippled in all her resources by that tremendous 
struggle, she has been chiefly engaged, since its close, in 
the work of reorganization and in repairing and refitting 
church buildings. Now we may hope she will earnestly 
seek to enter the doors which stand open in every part 



FOR OUR YOUNG PEOPLE. 273 

of the world, and make a missionary record worthy to 
stand with those of her sister Churches in this country 
and in England. 

The missionary spirit animates all the minor Metho- 
dist bodies in the United States and Canada ; and, in 
their measure, they are actively engaged in sending the 
gospel to those who sit in darkness. 

By a faithful adherence to her doctrines and to the 
example of her great founder, Methodism may continue 
to the end of time to bless the world as one of the 
purest forms of " Christianity in earnest." 



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